Back in the early 1980`s I was working with young TWOC-ers and was once in a `place`being shown a ledger book with page after page of registration numbers, all of the same make and model. Unbelievable really, but it was reckoned that just about every car of that type in the town and surrounding area had been stolen at least once.
One of the lads told me exactly how it was done and it was down to a fine art, so much that they could do it in the dark regarding the hot wiring. This info being passed far and wide across the district.
It was just the one make and model though. Blank at anything else as the wiring was different.
I often wondered how widespread this became.... the cure was reaching age 17 when almost everyone settled down a bit with more serious consequences on the horizon in Court.
Well that`s my story, people were going into local showrooms and buying these cars new..if only they had been aware....
Any little car`secrets` unknown to the general public, from your own perspective?
Regards
Edited by oilrag on 24/05/2008 at 20:15
|
>>all of the same make and model
mkII Astra?
|
How do you know ;)
Yeah, I know.. poor secret..
Regards
|
|
After Mrs SS's Mk2 Astra was nicked from a railway station some years ago, the police admitted to her that they had a nickname for Astras. They called them "Kebabs". When she asked why, she was told it was because they were popular late night "takeaways".
|
How do you know ;)
The really annoying thing is that the method which was widely shared did a lot of damage to the door. There was also a way to get in very quickly which caused no damage, and made no noise.
While I worked in a Vauxhall garage, we had to go out to a few cars where owners had locked their keys in the car by holding the button down, or some such. Customers were always shocked how quickly I could gain entry - I would always hide the detail of the method from them!
|
SWMBO's mk2 Astra was nicked from outside her flat. When recovered, the theft method looked remarkably unsophisticated.
Lower half of steering column shroud smashed off, ignition switch levered off back of lock barrel, complete steering lock levered off with a short length of scaffold tube left inside the car, and car started with a screwdriver. No "hotwiring" at all,
Must have taken them all of 30 seconds to drive away.
Cheers
DP
|
|
Mrs P had a red 16v GTE for a while, that was a scary car to own.....
|
PU
Got myself some silverware in a fettled MK 16V GTE in GP N trim. Quick!
|
|
it was - In a slight burst of illegality I raced a patrol car home from custody in it in the early hours of one morning......no speed cameras then back in the early 90s. Local traffic Sergeant had a white one (everyone was convinced it was an unmarked car.)
|
What happened to all the fun? :-(
|
Happy days - I'd probably be locked up now !
There is a story about unfettered speed, a patrol car and about 5 stray sheep on another similar occasion.......The Officers still serve so best keep quiet about that one
Edited by Pugugly on 25/05/2008 at 00:34
|
|
it was - In a slight burst of illegality I raced a patrol car home from custody in it in the early hours of one morning......no speed cameras then back in the early 90s. Local traffic Sergeant had a white one (everyone was convinced it was an unmarked car.)
PU, you're a dark horse. There was me thinking you was a respectable member of the legal profession, and now we find out that as soon as you were let out of jail you went joyriding ;)
|
|
|
|
|
Our lads did it without the screwdriver. The steering lock was smashed in a different way.
It was done (entry)by just carrying a small part, a chip, of the central insulating material of the combustion end of a spark plug.
Hence not `going equipped ` however when that tiny chip was found in a lads pocket....
Not going to spell it out here how that alone was used, but most distressing was a fatality when a steering lock engaged again while being driven............
Regards
Edited by oilrag on 24/05/2008 at 22:13
|
|
|
|
Didn't involve half a tennis ball did it NC ?
I had a '91 Mk2 Astra on a J plate and no-one even attempted to nick it from Malin Bridge in Sheffield. I traded it for a Mk2 Golf GTi on a G plate. That did get noticed. Always a nice phlegm deposit down the side on a Saturday morning...Boy do I miss Sheffield !
|
|
I think that the tennis ball was an urban myth - Although I remember a TWOCer I dealt with claiming to nick Jettas with half a tennis ball though.
Edited by Pugugly on 24/05/2008 at 22:08
|
|
Tennis Ball worked for me on it when I locked the keys in the ignition. Also worked on my '93 plate Audi 80 when I did the same thing there...Best thing on a fast Astra was the handbrake, it was the only way to get it round a damp corner.
|
Didn't some Mercs have a pneumatic based central locking system that could be persuaded to respond to the, er, application, of a tennis ball?
Leaving crime aside, the system would eventually lose pressure over time.
Owners were then told to put the key in the driver's lock, open the door manually and start the car to repressurise it.
|
|
The Audi system was pneumatic, it was a dealer who showed me how to get around the problem as my car was waiting for new C/L vacuum pump.
|
I've seen the tennis ball method used to good effect on Ford Granadas of a certain vintage too.
My old mk1 Sierra could be opened in less than 10 seconds with a 30cm ruler. Considering the regularity with which I locked my keys in it, this was a blessing. This had an ingenious homebrew immobiliser on it though.
Cheers
DP
|
>>Not going to spell it out here how that alone was used, but most distressing was a fatality when a steering lock engaged again while being driven
Referred to as 'no great loss to society'.
Tasteless, but I know of a family who lost a member when a stolen car was driven on the wrong side of the road into them.
|
I know from my days working at a Rover garage that both the 25/200 and 45/400 can be unlocked with a coat hanger and strong flat blade. Im sure its well known how to do it, I just recall it being used rather often when keys got locked in cars.
The funniest thing is that on the 400, Rover actually assisted the thief through the design as the pop up locks were ribbed making it easy to use the coat hanger on them!
|
Whilst i am sure evryone understands what stu means by his method I dont want to elaborate.
But please do not attempt anything like this if the car has side airbags fitted. Accidentally setting them off as you try to gain entry will result in any tool being ejected quickly in the direction of its approach; often very close to your body and/or head.
Please dont do it !
|
I hadn't thought about airbags.
Not safe being a twocer these days, innit?
|
Why does the word "justice" come to mind, though? ;-)
|
|
Yes. I too think that when someone steals a car and gets killed in it, while you can't say really that they 'deserve' to be killed you can certainly be sure that they have brought it on themselves. That would inflect any feelings of sympathy or grief you might have.
|
|
Didn't involve half a tennis ball did it NC ?
Nothing so subtle gmac!, but please forgive me if I don't elaborate!
As well as the lousy security - which wasn't fixed until the mkIII Carlton (Omega A) and Senator B were launched - most Vauxhall buyers weren't aware that their camshafts (prior to about model year 1990) were made from cheese!
|
As well as the lousy security - which wasn't fixed until the mkIII Carlton (Omega A) and Senator B were launched - most Vauxhall buyers weren't aware that their camshafts (prior to about model year 1990) were made from cheese!
After that, they were made from parts randomly picked up from parts suppliers. The 1.4 being a class example of random camshafts from 1.3, 1.4 and 1.6 litres being installed. Quality !
|
When i first joined the Old Bill, one of my older colleagues used to keep a set of flat looking keys (they looked a bit like metal rulers of differing sizes, with a very rough curved shape at one end). Others referred to him/them as 'slim jims' and i presumed that as the owner wasn't at all slim, it must be what the keys were called...
You weren't supposed to have them as they apparently could have been construed as items made for stealing cars and therefore leave you liable for 'Going Equipped to Steal'. They worked quite well though.
I can remember tring to get into a Granada Scorpio some years later and working out there was a reasonable system on the driver's door to prevent you getting in to the lock mechanism...but...there was nothing on the passenger side. What was the point in that?
|
>>set of flat looking keys (they looked a bit like metal rulers of differing sizes, with a very rough curved shape at one end)<<
were they not just a set of "feeler gauges"? ;-)
|
|
Who needs keys when you can buy these things? tinyurl.com/45loq8
Edited by L'escargot on 26/05/2008 at 08:53
|
|
|
|
