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Event Coverage Starlite Garage nabs car thief,,,,,,,,,after 10 years!

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by GassersGarage, Jul 11, 2010.

  1. dualquadpete
    Joined: Jul 9, 2010
    Posts: 29

    dualquadpete
    Member

    Here in Ontario Canada, the DMV has a "used car package" that costs $20 & Ownership [title] can't be transfered without it. It traces vehicle's owners back as far as possible & also checks for "leins" against vehicle & if it's been STOLEN. My 52 Pontiac showed owners back into the 1970's & 64 Catalina only the time it was in Canada from coming from South Carolina. This system WORKS & also helps in tracing owners for more history on your ride!!!!
     
  2. Wolfman1
    Joined: Jul 8, 2010
    Posts: 265

    Wolfman1
    Member

    Didn't something like this happen at Barrett Jackson this year with a hemi Cuda
    or something, that Mike Love from the Beach Boys tried to sell. I never heard the
    outcome.
     
  3. Larry T
    Joined: Nov 24, 2004
    Posts: 7,875

    Larry T
    Member

  4. VenomousType
    Joined: Feb 6, 2008
    Posts: 299

    VenomousType
    Member
    from Atlanta GA

    scary... in so many ways.
     
  5. LOW LID DUDE
    Joined: Aug 16, 2007
    Posts: 1,223

    LOW LID DUDE
    Member
    from Colorado

    Friend of mine drag car was stolen here in Denver ( in the 80's ) and after 2 years he got a call from a bud saying he is at a drag strip in Florida standing here watching your car race with all the original lettering and paint.The only thing taken off was his name on the door.The dude clammed he bought the car with no title because it was a race car.He got it back and the guy they busted paid for shipping.
     
  6. Hot Rods Ta Hell
    Joined: Apr 20, 2008
    Posts: 4,670

    Hot Rods Ta Hell
    Member

    Police may be researching any additions to the car, trying to see if any of the 30k in "improvements" over the years included stolen parts.
    Hopefully Starlite won't be aproached by someone at a future show stating "that looks like the blower motor or wheels/tires from the_________ that was stolen from me 5 years ago".
    Great to hear they caught the dumb thief who actually drove it into an area car show!
     
  7. coolbreeze1340
    Joined: Aug 18, 2009
    Posts: 1,340

    coolbreeze1340
    Member
    from Indiana

    The same could happen to any of us (owning a stolen car for 9 years). If the paperwork looked good and the numbers matched how many of us wouldn't purchase a car?
    If the guy thought it was clean and truely put $30,000 in it, Starlight and him should come to an "agreement" of some sort. Go after the thief together but Starlite getting his $30,000 worth of improvement doesn't seem too great either.
     
  8. specialk
    Joined: Sep 28, 2005
    Posts: 598

    specialk
    Member

    Starlite owes him Jack Shit. He can try to get the $30K back from whoever he purchased it from, but certainly nobody else.
     
  9. This story gives me a little hope that my 30 pickup may someday be found and returned to me....was stolen in north-central Oregon several years ago.....licensed and titled in my name with a good VIN..been in my family since 1930. Damn thieves!
     

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  10. rainh8r
    Joined: Dec 30, 2005
    Posts: 792

    rainh8r
    Member

    This is why they put the VIN in several places now, including inside the frame/subframe. Real thieves will change the VIN tag to match the title-you will never know it's been stolen. We had a guy come to check out a wreck and everthing looked fine-all numbers matched. He then asked us to turn it on it's side. He measured the frame to a specific area, cut out a window in the frame and there was a different VIN stamped inside. Stolen car with all visible numbers matching. When old cars are worth big money, the extra effort a thief can go to in order to make the numbers match the documents is well worth it.
     
  11. '29jalopy
    Joined: Oct 10, 2009
    Posts: 8

    '29jalopy
    Member
    from H.B. Ca.

    if it's been stolen and you loved it enough to put up a picture(Rocky)how bout include the vin. those pickups are everywhere guy. someone's gotta know something. doesn't the vin fall off the books after so many years of not being registered? then stolen means nothing so put it out there.
    i went to that carshow in watervalet michigan, some 3,000 cars there for that event, you know some of those were hot, at some time.
    i say start a thread for those of you who've lost theirs, just for kicks, see what turns up.
     
  12. Toner283
    Joined: Feb 13, 2008
    Posts: 1,327

    Toner283
    Member

    Does anyone have pics of the car before and after recovery? just curious to see what it looked like and what has been done to it since? must be essentially the same car or the Starlite guys would not have recognized it right?
     
  13. 29nash
    Joined: Nov 6, 2008
    Posts: 4,544

    29nash
    BANNED
    from colorado

    Mine all have numbers in several places, written with sharpie before upholstery, etc. he, he, he..:D
     
  14. There was something goofy about that whole Beach Boys Hemi deal (it was Al Jardine not Mike Love). They said the car was stolen, that a subsequent owner got a new VIN, numbers didn't match between VIN and title, the cops checked all that out and then let the car be auctioned? I think it was a stolen and recovered car, where the insurance company ended up selling it with a salvage title at some point.
     
  15. dualquadpete
    Joined: Jul 9, 2010
    Posts: 29

    dualquadpete
    Member

    Speaking of Insurance, did the Ins. Co. pay out on this Nova when it was stolen???If so, doesn't the Ins. Co. own it now??? Would the orginal owner be able to buy it back,by paying back the pay out?? If not the Ins. Co. is going to come out "WAY AHEAD" on this one!!!!!
     
  16. Ok I buy vehicles at the Drug Task force& police impound auction. They give me paperwork that Can be used to title and license the car. Now what happens if the car is a stolen car? even if I use the parts there tainted?:confused: All I can say about the nova Is the guy that was in possession better be able to prove that he obtained it legally:eek:. I arkansas the DMV runs the vin thru the national data base to check for leins or stolen vehicles. At one time the police had to verify the vin on out of state titles. But they have quit doing that. I still believe most people dont want anything to do with stolen parts or vehicles. OldWolf
     
  17. GMC BUBBA
    Joined: Jun 15, 2006
    Posts: 3,420

    GMC BUBBA
    Member Emeritus

    This happened in Indiana a few years a go to a friend of mine. His 37 ford was stolen that he built in high school and had owned forever.
    A few years later the car drove in to goodguys indy with a ohio plates and title. The ohio owner had purchased the car.
    Police were called and they couldnt do anything as the new owner had the title and had bought the car.
    Also later on it was decided that the insurance company had paid off my friend and the case was ( after some court time) closed.
    He didnt get his car back !!!
     
  18. czuch
    Joined: Sep 23, 2008
    Posts: 2,688

    czuch
    Member
    from vail az

    I'm glad they got their car back. That must have been a WTF moment.
    I'd have paid to see the look on their faces.
    I bought a car with a california title here in Az. They took it in a bay, closed the door and checked a number "somewhere" on the frame. They said everything was cool and it was good to go. Do other states do this?
    I was worried they would screw something up as I wasnt allowed to see what they did. You know the whole " I work on my own cars thing".
     
  19. hey Rocky that's a nice ol' truck and I aint never givin' it back. :D

    Never knew you lost the family A friend. I probably won't see it but I'll start to scrutinize all the A trucks I see.

    It was all stock or???

    yea good deal they got the Nova back. Maybe the fella that was or is in possesion of it will get lucky and remember who he bought it from. Gawd makes my bung hurt just to think about it. :eek:

    For those who wonder about stolen parts I had a carb on my bike once that a fella said was his. After I convinced him that getting surley with me wasn't a good idea we talked. I was pretty sure that he was correct and pulled the carb there on the spot. I had to call one of my brothers to bring me a carb to get home. Ya just never know with swap meet parts. Those are the kicks I guess ya win a few ya loose a lot.
     
    Last edited: Jul 13, 2010
  20. Brad54
    Joined: Apr 15, 2004
    Posts: 6,021

    Brad54
    Member
    from Atl Ga

    I had a truck stolen if Floriduh, and they stripped all my parts off it. I saw the truck a year later in Orlando, called the cops, they talked to the guy and he claimed he bought all the parts at the swap meet. I didn't have the police report with me, and Orlando and Polk County were in a tiff, so the cop let the guy go and told me to call Polk County with the guy's tag number.
    I saw the truck again a couple months later in Lakeland (where we both lived!), called the sheriff with the tag number again and he said "Well, you were paid by the insurance company, so you aren't the victim. And to be honest, I have too many cases to come out for this one." It would have been a slam dunk, because every part was photographed and documented for magazine stories--including every change I made to them.
    Fuck Polk County, Floriduh.

    For stolen cars, I had a friend who lived in Orlando in the late '80s, and drove an old '56 Corvette SCCA race car every day: big home-made sway bars, big brakes, lift-off hood with kitchen cabinet handles, etc. etc. He bought the car from a friend, who had it for a couple years.
    When he sold the car, he put the vin in the ad and said "SCCA History."
    He sold it, with a clear Floriduh title.
    A week later, a guy called and said he wanted the car... but it was already sold. After much persuasion, my friend finally gave him the contact info for the guy he sold it to.
    The next day, the FBI called him and wanted to know who he bought from, and sold to--the car had been stolen from an SCCA race in the '70s.
    My buddy got to keep his money, but always wondered what happened to the car.

    Two years ago, we were at the Petite Lemans at Road Atlanta, and he says "That's my old Corvette!" as a '56 drove to the gas pumps.
    To make a short story long, the guy driving the car was the one who called him that night: His neighbor bought the car new, raced it, sold it to his dad in '61 and they raced it until it was stolen. He recovered it from the guy my buddy sold it to.

    A car theft ring in South Florida was selling cars out of a salvage yard with clear Floriduh titles, thanks to having two people working on the inside at the Floriduh DMV. A lot of people went to Fed. prison over that one because they were able to trace it back through the owners who had hot titles.

    So don't be so quick to jump down a guy's throat--good chance he didn't know it was stolen.

    -Brad
    Oh yeah: because it was state employees that gave these cars titles, the state reimbursed everyone who lost money.
    Otherwise, I think you're SOL, unless your home-owner's insurance will cover you as the victim of theft. I dunno.
     
  21. GassersGarage
    Joined: Jul 1, 2007
    Posts: 4,727

    GassersGarage
    Member

    I heard he was taking the police to the shop where he bought the car from.
     
  22. jchav62
    Joined: Jan 30, 2007
    Posts: 1,932

    jchav62
    Member

    Heavy stuff!!
     
  23. But the cop was right one point. If you were paid by the insurance Company, it is now their property and loss, not yours. You would have no legal claim even if they had seized the property and arrested the suspect. Once you accept the check from the insurance company you have signed over your rights and title to said property. You would have no legal claim or rights to anything, even if you had substantially lost money on the settlement with the insurance co.
     
  24. Brad54
    Joined: Apr 15, 2004
    Posts: 6,021

    Brad54
    Member
    from Atl Ga

    Except for my $500 deductible. That was money directly out of my pocket, to say nothing of the "depreciation" I lost, and the extra money I had to shell out for a new truck as a direct result of their actions.

    But actually, none of that really matters. What matters is that some lazy fucking do-nothing piece of shit cop didn't want to bother with the paperwork when a car thief and his friends were served up to him on a silver platter, complete with pictures of the parts and all modifications made to them.

    Additionally, my truck was a long box and his was a short box x-cab: my truck had a custom-made and painted aluminum flush-fit tonneau cover that didn't fit his truck: if that had been found at his residence, it would have proven that he stole my truck. They also stole my license plate: MPRMSCL (Mopar Muscle-the mag I was editor of at the time)... probably on his wall as a trophy.

    I always figured crime was crime, regardless of who the victim is.

    So I'll stand by my "Fuck the Polk County Sheriff's Office" position, thanks.

    -Brad
     
  25. starlite staff
    Joined: Sep 29, 2004
    Posts: 83

    starlite staff
    Member

    It is true we found my nova that was stolen 11 years ago. Have not heard from Hawthorne police yet but hope for the best. It was my first car and and it had alots of custom stuff done to it, including custom roll bar,it was prostreet so it had all custom made sheet metal in the back seat area and frame. A custom upholstery done by Fast Eddys. If it was any other stock nova it would have been hard to prove but being prostreet, my first car, and having alot of documented mods on it, it would be hard not to prove it was mine. i will post some pics of how it looked when it was stolen and keep you guys informed.


    Jack
     
  26. starlite staff
    Joined: Sep 29, 2004
    Posts: 83

    starlite staff
    Member

    I found a copy of the flyer we posted up after my car was stolen. This gives a decent picture of what the car looked like back then.

    Jack
     

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  27. hemi46
    Joined: Jun 26, 2009
    Posts: 39

    hemi46
    Member Emeritus

    Sevaral years ago, somebody tried to bring a 55 Chev into Wa, but the numbers didn't match. The police ran the numbers through the system and found that the car had been stolen 25 years before. They called the owner in N/S Carolina and told him they had his missing car. He came out picked it up, said he thought he would never see it again. This was reported in the Seattle paper.
     
  28. lewislynn
    Joined: Apr 29, 2006
    Posts: 2,279

    lewislynn
    Member

    Maybe there is hope. Check this article about a 56 F100 stolen in Southern Ca in 1972 recovered just last month.

    http://www.modbee.com/2010/06/16/1213371/jardine-56-ford-taken-in-1972.html

    It seems the truck somehow got undetected to Texas. The unsuspecting owner in Texas gave or sold the truck to his kid back here in Ca. When vehicles come to Ca. from out of state DMV checks VIN #'s. The (suspicious) DMV inspector sent the new owners to Ca. Highway Patrol for verification where the CHP officer found the (hidden) VIN's matched a stolen truck from 1972. CHP contacted the original owner, who still had the original title, and gave him the truck back....

    And then this:http://www.modbee.com/2010/06/21/1220227/jardine-of-military-transportation.html




     
  29. THE SHOP
    Joined: Oct 30, 2007
    Posts: 116

    THE SHOP
    Member

    I was there. Pretty much saw the whole thing. Glad for you Jack. Not very often you get your first high school car back after 11 years of wondering where it may be these days. Well, hopefully now it will be in your garage where it belongs! Congrats on the upgrades on it!
     

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