Has your Porsche ever been stolen?

[sander]

I was curious to see how many board members have had this unfortunate event occur...

Could you let us know what year your car was, its overall condition, and the circumstances of the theft.

I tend to think my '71 track car is not a real target, even for joyriders, but maybe I'm being too complacent.

thanks

------------------
'71 911E with Webers
Golden Gate Region PCA
http://www.geocities.com/edrecinto/

[campbellcj]

I don't think early cars are a prime target for pro thieves, because there is not a large black-market in 30-year-old 911 parts as there is with late-model Camry's and such.

Even joyriders seem to prefer newer cars, which is fine with me.

That said, I did have my 911 almost taken from my apartment parking garage around 9 years ago. A young punk kid was actually inside the car at 3:30am, probably trying to figure out how to start it, when my alarm started blaring and my humongous next door neighbor ran him off.

Unfortunately, if a real pro really wants your car, there is not a lot you can do other than store it in a guarded fortress or something. Any car parked outside or in a typical residential garage can be swooped in 30-60 seconds by the pros.

Chris C.

[thabaer]

I agree, the economy of scale for older cars is not there.

That said, a kleen and chiny hi-quality stereo is a good target...I still miss my several years old TD-700 deck, they left me a pile of glass on the passenger seat in trade.



------------------
Charlie Baer
'79 Euro 911SC

[Leland Pate]

Well, just ask VIPRKLR how much car thieves hate older 911s.

[Ted Stringer]

Actually I was very lucky. Someone attempted (they had no earthly clue how to do this because they just made a mess out of the lock cylinder) to drill the ignition out of my parents '91 taurus wagon. The reason I was extreamly lucky is pocketrocket was parked right next to the wagon. I don't know weather to be glad or insulted!!

------------------
Ted Stringer
nuke3@juno.com
'84 911 Targa aka pocketrocket

[911racer]

I have a tale about which I can laugh now, but at the time I found it decidedly un-funny.
When I turned 33, I bought myself a brand-spankin-new 964 RS as a birthday present. I bought the car from a dealer in Zurich, and intended to drive it on tax-free plates for a while before I imported it into Germany. I had to pay cash, because Banks/Leasing companies don't like to do car business across borders. Another problem was comprehensive insurance. Best I could do was to get 3rd party insurance. I thought that I could sort it out once I am in Germany, but no luck there either.
Anyway, I had the car home for a few days (by this time it was 6 weeks old), when I woke up one morning and it was gone. I had to throw up a few times and then went to the Police. I have a pathological hate/distrust/contempt for those small-d*cked racist IDIOTS in uniform, and they just comfirmed my belief when they said "as an "ausländer" you have propably sold the car to Poland and now you want to defraud the insurance company." I am not making this up, I have a witness. I had great difficulty convincing them that the car was not insured and that I have just lost my life savings all at once.
Anyway, I slowly got used to the idea of no Porsche, when after about 1 year I was contacted by Interpol and told to come and remove my car from a Police compound in Belgium. Apparently the car (with thief) was found after about 3 weeks. The Belgian Police informed the German Police, but being the incompetent idiots they are, they never bothered to tell me. After a year, the Belgians were tired of my car on their lot and then contacted Interpol, who found me within 48 hours. That easy.
I then drove to Belgium, retrieved the car (still in good shape) and took it home. With me I had an official release from the Belgium Police, written in Flemmish, the language spoken in the area.
I then went to the German Police and reported that I had the car back and asked that it be removed from the wanted list. Next thing I had a pair of shackles on my hands and got thrown in jail for owning a stolen vehicle (my own). I spent a few days there while they had an official translation made of the release letter. They also questioned it's validity, since it did not have a rubber stamp on it (it was on official paper and signed) and everything in a German official's puny mind must have a rubber stamp on it. I finally got released when my Embassy got involved.
I tried to sue the Police for the whole episode, but it was my word against a dozen of them conspiring, lying bastards, so my solicitor advised me to drop the case. In Germany they have a "crime" called "insulting a state official", which meant that if I lost my case against the Police (which you always do), then they turn around and prosecute you.
Moral of the story: if you want to steal a Porsche and get away with the crime, come and do it here in Germany. The Police are just too plain stupid to catch you.
Wow, I think I feel better now.

[sander]

Wow, Racer, I can't believe that happened to you. I guess it all worked out in the end...but I can't believe you had to spend time in jail for driving your own car!

Note to self: cancel vacation in Germany with rented Porsche =0

------------------
'71 911E with Webers
Golden Gate Region PCA
http://www.geocities.com/edrecinto/

[911racer]

sander, don't worry, Europe is becoming safe again. I think that Poland and the other ex-communist countries have reached saturation level with stolen cars, so things are not so bad anymore. Anyway, rental cars (especially rental Porsches) are fully insured. You are not allowed to take them near an ex-commie country or to south Italy (mafia territory). France's Cote d Azur is sometimes on the "verboten" list too.

[fred hannah]

sometimes i wish it was stolen

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

No one looking at Porsche, but the '90 Escort (Plain Jane econo-box) my wife and I had was attempted three times. Once the stupid wrecker driver told my father-in-law he was only reposesing it (we paid cash for the used car). Guy drove off real fast as the cops showed up.

But I do want to address cops. Having worked with Security and the Federal Prosecutor while in the Air Force, I believe that cops only reflect the average person. People smart enough to be brain surgeons are. Approaching with reasonable care, facts, paperwork, and explainations will almost always win the day. Keep in mind that most thieves are not as smart as most cops and it is a dangerous profession that most of us would not wish to attempt.

I agree with Racer that German cops are on the lower end of the scale, along with the French. But several years in Belgium gave me nothing but respect for the Belgian Gendarmes.

------------------
David
'83 SC

[epbrown]

Well, I can't top Racer's tale, and it wasn't a 911, but to show that cops are the same everywhere:

As a young sprout of 22, I moved to Chicago not long after buying the first car I'd ever bought new - a 1986 Honda Prelude. Promptly stolen from the parking lot at work, I called Chicago's Finest.

First, they insisted that the car had be repossesed and I call the finance company. "My people" are always getting our cars repoed, it was explained. I had a GMAC (don't ask)payment book showing the car was paid a year in advance already. Okay, that means I was trying to scam the insurance company. I'd probably arranged to have the car stolen. It seems now I'd over-extended myself by paying in advance, and this was my scheme to get my money back. Eventually they file a report and I go home to a sleepless night.

The police show up at my home at 3 a.m. saying they've found the car. (It's apparently very suspicious that I'm awake and dressed at this hour. I'm frequently asked what I was doing up.) I'm driven to a strange neighborhood, where my car is sitting in an alley. It's burned almost beyond recognition, but you can tell that it's missing quite a few parts (bumpers, rear wheels, seats, stereo and trunk lid). It is still smoking when I get there. The Fire Department reported it after being called about the fire - apparently some places torch the car for kicks when they're done. The only way I knew it was my Prelude was it had a pair of scorched Nike Vandals in the rear seat (these are the shoes Michael Biehn steals in the opening minutes of Terminator I in the dept. store).

The kicker? The cops tell me that the car is blocking the alley and if I don't have it moved within the hour, they'll write me a ticket and have it impounded, which will cost me $200 or so to get it back for the insurance company.

Not a big fan of the CPD, after that.

Emanuel

------------------
Everybody wants a normal life and a cool car;
most people settle for the car." Chris Titus
1966 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow
1983 Porsche 911 SC Targa

[Doug Zielke]

Yeah, just where *is* VIPRKLR???
Poor bastard's heart is prolly busted hoping his baby will still turn up.

------------------
Doug
'81 SC Coupe (aka: "Blue Bomber")
Canada West Region PCA
members.home.net/zielke/911SC.htm

[Dave951M]

Well guys- I had a Datsun 310GX carjacked from me in 81. Not that I am a fan of the econobox mind you, I don't like looking down the business end of a gun, especially while it's making noise and spitting base metals my way. Try as I might, I found that there is just no way to make yourself but so small at that range and managed to collect five hits. I jumped into the shadows and hoped Mr. Crook wasn't taking the time to reload. I became acquainted with the local medical facilities and was released a week or so later to begin rehab. While I was still toddling around learning to walk normally and use my arm again, sans chunks of bone and other quasi essential parts, the cops found my car in FLA. I live in NC. It seems Mr. Crook was a very bad boy, having just robbed a church during the offering, and was making his getaway in the 310 (that's a joke on its own) with a couple of kgs of weed aboard. (Yup, the average crook is pretty dumb.) The police did their thing and determined that Mr Crook had prior reservations at the Gray Bar Inn in NC and shipped him up here. After he checks out in 2020, FLA will get their piece of his sorry hide. The moral of the story, crooks are crooks, Porsche or no, there's no accounting for taste in what's stolen, and there is no substitute for restoring the peace through superior firepower. Make of that what you will. The cops in my case were very professional and quite pleased to see this guy off the streets, even though I wound up with a disability rating because of it. The courts were very interesting as well, the judge for this case was a "hanging judge" and that explains the 40 year sentence, no parole till 20 years and only then if he's been very nice (which he hasn't). From my last contact with the cops, this guy will probably do a full pull. I used to think the crooks would only go for the flashy stuff, but like I said, crooks are dumb and there's no accounting for poor taste.

Dave951M
Carolinas Region PCA

[This message has been edited by Dave951M (edited 06-11-2001).]