Searching for stolen Minors

[pingis]

I have spent an hour reading old topics in this thread. At the same time I have tried to compare photos from ads on the internet. There seems to be quite a few Minors for sale throughout Europe that were once sold in the UK. (At least that's what I think when I see a Minor with the steering wheel to the right). There are lots of places to check out: German mobile.de or autoscout24.nl for example. I googled using the words "Morris Minor" + for sale in different languages. "Te koop" in Dutch, "Zu verkaufen" in German, "Till salu" in Swedish etc. That way it is rather easy to see if a stolen car has showed up for sale in another country. Here is an example of a nice RHD Moggy convertible in The Netherlands. Probably not stolen but what do I know? http://www.marktplaats.nl/a/auto-onderd ... ousPage=lr

[morrisminorbzh]

Often had the same thoughts regarding stolen Minors

Google in French "Morris Minor à vendre" and you get (amongst others) this site :
http://www.leparking.fr/voiture-occasio ... _pays%3D18

Some seem to have been brought over to France by expat Brits and then run them in to the ground - others have been bought by the classic car enthusiasts and sold on.............

Always a bit dubious of ads where the number of the car has been covered or rubbed out

[dp]

A bit related to this, I am scanning away for my stolen Minor too. Suppose I spotted what I thought was mine but in France or Sweden; what should I do? Suppose the number plates are different and the chassis number has gone and suppose there aren't bits of paper with my address hidden in lots of odd places that I could pull out on front of the Gendarmes?

[lowride stepside]

How about your finger prints or DNA

[pingis]

Suppose I spotted what I thought was mine but in France or Sweden; what should I do? Suppose the number plates are different and the chassis number has gone and suppose there aren't bits of paper with my address hidden in lots of odd places that I could pull out on front of the Gendarmes?

I think what you should do differs from case to case. If your car would show up for sale in another country and you are 100% sure it is your car I think the best thing to do would be to ask your local police to contact the police in the country where your car has been found. I am not sure every police force in the world would find it worthwhile searching for an old car even if they get an address to visit. Many policemen might think they have more important issues to deal with. If that would be the case I would try to contact some car enthusiast living close to where the car has been found. It wouldn't even have to be a Minor enthusiast. I am sure if somebody had a car stolen in France or Sweden and asked somebody on this forum to have a look somewhere in the U.K. there would probably be somebody willing to do some detective work and dragging the police to the crime scene even if no Morris was involved at all. So, if a stolen Minor would show up in France - ask the local Peugeot or Renault club mebers for help. If a Minor shows up in Sweden -
ask at a Volvo/Saab-forum. If the car has had the identity removed or replaced photos of repairs or descriptions of what parts have been used in what positions should help a lot.

[POMMReg]

International database would help!

The one I hold records every number available - although NOT registration
numbers, unless reported stolen.

As present, anyone can pinch a Minor, affix a different id and sell it on.

No-one seems THAT bothered they may be buying parts from stolen Minor's -
in an ideal world someone would hold records where engines, gearboxes,
rear axles and bodyshells numbers be checked against.

[jagnut66]

An emotive subject but in answer to the 'what would you do' question, if it were mine and I was sure that I'd spotted it I would find the spare cash to travel and head out there to check it out with whatever documents / photos that I possess to back up my claim should I could find some identifying marks/ items / features that put it beyond doubt.
Identity proven I would also be carrying my keys, because I'd be b*gg***d if I was leaving my car out there, whatever the new 'owners' thought!
They can sought that out with the local police / whoever sold it to them...... if they can find them...........
(if there's a sting in the tail for any (unsuspecting?) purchasers of stolen cars and word gets round, people might become more cautious about what they buy).
Like I said an emotive subject.
Best wishes,
Mike.

[pingis]

An emotive subject but in answer to the 'what would you do' question, if it were mine and I was sure that I'd spotted it I would find the spare cash to travel and head out there to check it out with whatever documents / photos that I possess to back up my claim should I could find some identifying marks/ items / features that put it beyond doubt.
Identity proven I would also be carrying my keys, because I'd be b*gg***d if I was leaving my car out there, whatever the new 'owners' thought!
They can sought that out with the local police / whoever sold it to them...... if they can find them...........
(if there's a sting in the tail for any (unsuspecting?) purchasers of stolen cars and word gets round, people might become more cautious about what they buy).
Like I said an emotive subject.
Best wishes,
Mike.

I understand your feelings exactly Mike. Being a Swede I know a bit about Swedish legislation. If you find a stolen object in Sweden and you are absolutely certain it belongs to you - don't do anything but talk to the police. So many stolen bicycles have been taken back by their origianl owners and all of a sudden the rightful owner is a bad guy according to Swedish laws. A stolen object has to be recovered by the police and the owner can not get it back until an investigation has been performed. This might not stop you from traveling to the place where you know your stolen car is located, but, as you say, this is emotive. You might not be able to keep calm when you face stupid foreign laws. I think the best idea when finding a stolen item on the internet would be to involve a local who knows the laws better than you and hopefully won't get as emotional as the real owner might get.

[faversham999]

Get some number plate made up bring it back .You have the log book MOT so engine number should be right

[dp]

How about your finger prints or DNA

Brilliant idea. I don't know how interested in getting involved the police are but certainly plenty of my blood and skin on the sharp edges over the years.

Tempting to do the numberplate thing.

I'm not sure how it then works out if 1) you've already taken money from the insurer and handed over logbook and keys - at that point the car belongs to the insurance company

2) What you explain to the UK authorities.

The latter wouldn't bother me really though I could imagine making me the criminal would be the easy option.

I wonder if, putting the original reg number on, and driving into UK the ANPRs would go off and it'd look like insurance fraud.

"Yes, Sir you say you've stolen your car back from Timbuktoo but we think you've had it all along. "

[jagnut66]

The only problem I can forsee is, as you mentioned, that after an in initial period of searching you declare it stolen and accept the insurance payout, at which point it becomes the property of the insurance company.
If you then find and recover it (by whatever means) would the insurance company simply accept the money back or are they going to get all bureaucratic and insist the car is theirs to dispose of as they see fit and attempt to seize it??

Over to Dave at Footman James (if he's aware of this post)...........

[jagnut66]

I've just finished wiring in another security precaution...... as has been said on this site before, it's better to have more than one.
Mind you a baseball bat round the head of these scum would be more satisfying in the long run............

[pingis]

The only problem I can forsee is, as you mentioned, that after an in initial period of searching you declare it stolen and accept the insurance payout, at which point it becomes the property of the insurance company.
If you then find and recover it (by whatever means) would the insurance company simply accept the money back or are they going to get all bureaucratic and insist the car is theirs to dispose of as they see fit and attempt to seize it??

I think even if a Moggy, or any other belonging, gets found after it started belonging to an insurance company it might be worth the effort trying to figure out how it ended up where it was found. This way thieves might be found and with or without baseball bats they might be convinced to stop stealing classic cars.