I am now Z less

[daddz]

Victor,

That is a damn shame; what spineless bastard would steal another man's pride and joy has serious problems. Hope someone ventilates the perpitrator's skull.

I sincerely hope that you had a classic car insurance policy for your pride and joy. This would be a good oppurtunity for us to look at our insurance on our respective classic Datsun's. I live on the East Coast and I was surprised at the level of coverage that can be had for almost no money. In my situation $5000 agreed upon value coverage with 3000 miles a year only cost about $75.00.

In any case, I hope that your car is located with a minimum amount of time/frustration/damage.

[Zvoiture]

Victor! No! Happened to me too. No fun.

steve

[Sean Dezart]

Victor, I'm very sorry this has happened to you and your car - this is male rape ! Sure, it's a car that can be replaced but the feeling of complete remains.

Do cruise around a bit, do paste the cars details up where you can, supermarkets, auto shops, drive ins / throughs.

Just how easy is it to cut out and change VIN numbers ?

Are these cars being stolen to order ? Did any of your neighbours notice someone stalking your house, following you until you left the car ?

A beautiful, original 240 was stolen in the UK at an event a couple of years ago in the knowledge that it had been entered into the concours d'elegance - just disappeared and suspected to have gone to Japan (being RHD).

Are our cars becomming so collectable that these sad stories are becomming more common place ?

I feel for you, do what you can and quick 'cos I feel time isn't on your side !

My thoughts are with you and my eyes and ears open.

Sean:cry:

[mdbrandy]

Originally posted by Sean Dezart

Just how easy is it to cut out and change VIN numbers ?

Lets see, the door post plate can be drilled out in minutes, and the engine bay one unscrewed in minutes. The dash VIN is harder to get to but just held in with two rivets. Probably have to remove the dash or the windshield to get to it. The hardest one is the engraved VIN on the firewall, but a grinder would take care of it in short order.

That's to remove the VIN information. To actually get new info on the car would be a little harder, but the plates are just metal stampings.

[sblake01]

Victor, I feel your pain. It happened to me in 2002. I got it back but I don't drive it as much anymore. That's why I bought the 810. Remember we talked about 810 coupes last year? Anyway, I use the 810 as my daily driver and only use the Z for car shows and taking my wife to lunch on Wednesdays. It's a shame that one has to be leary about enjoying something that has so much effort put into it. I hope yours comes back in as good a condition as mine did. They took my stereo, speakers, some tools, and garage door remote!? Allstate more than covered it. My prayers are with you and your Z.

[v12horse]

Hello Victor,

I wish we were talking about a better note. This is a horrible mess to be in. I will keep my eyes peeled up here and if I see anything I will definately pm you. This is horrible. I just hope that if and when you find it that it was not abused and that the people that stole it just took it for a joyride. Good luck on your search.

-Ben

[Marty Rogan]

Victor,

What can you say. That is a crime against nature! And just plain sucks no matter how you slice it.

Hopefully, you have an agreed to value insurance policy. I learned to get one after my first 240 Z went up in flames after 7 years of restoration. I had about $10K into it (back in 1987). The insurance adjuster wanted to give me $1,900. I asked for a meeting with her bosses' boss. Came to the meeting with recent copies of Hemmings, detailed pictures of the car and a massive stack of receipts. Luckily the boss was a carguy and could plainly see that this was no ordinary used 240Z. It was a show quality car. I ended up walking out with a check for $6,700. Probably couldn't have got that if I sold it, so I was happy with the settlement. Not happy to lose the car though!!!

I feel your pain. Hopefully you'll get it back in reasonable shape and not have to haggle with the insurance company. If it comes to that, just remember, you can negotiate their offer!

Here's hoping they find it in good shape.

Regards,

Marty

[Rusty1]

Tough break,

The bad news is that joyriders don't steal collectable cars,

The best tip is to keep an eye on local classified ads in you area and also ebay. Victor for the benefit of other z nuts local to your state it may be worth posting any accesories that are rare or easily identifiable.

One last piece of info for all... Don't ever buy stuff that you think may be stolen, it gives the maggots a ready market. The courts in Victoria have finally started to work this out and people buying stolen property are getting similar penalties to the crooks who actually steal them, now we just need harsher penalties for the theives..

[optimaxtech]

Victor,

Losing ones pride and joy is a difficult thing to deal with. My sympathies. I hope it works out in the long run. If per chance, you choose to move on, in the For Sale Forum, there is a nice 71 240 for sale by GreenDestiny with 85K priced at 7500.$ Perhaps the car is still for sale, maybe PM him and see if you can work something out.

Grieving is a process, and in some cases, healing begins with falling in love again:classic:

[Zrush]

Yes Victor, I've seen that car that optimaxtech is referencing. You CAN paint it yellow. Very nice car with a great price. But maybe we're speaking to soon. The car might very well be returned to you. Lo-Jack should be on all our pride and joys, as this could happen to any of us.

[Ed]

Victor, I think that the local PD will do very little trying to recover your car. They will usually wait until someone runs into it. You can however start an investigation of your own. Go back to the scene and look around. Are there any surveillance cameras in the parking lot? Is there a history of cars being stolen from this area? I remember when I lived in San Diego, Home Depot was the hot spot for cars to be stolen. Start poking around. You never know what you may find.

Good luck.

Ed

[Sean Dezart]

Guys - what is lo-jack , An alarm system ? tracking system ? Car lock ?

This year my 240 will come out from the engineers' garage and I'm starting to sweat ! My old 240 was valued at 15000 dollars and sat outside my flat in London with never a problem but times, they are a changing !