Morris Minor Owners Club

I love reading the harmless 'banter' often generated in replies by the various posts (i.e.' ivasion of privacy', 'identity of members' , and Rolf ?? , etc.etc.) It mostly shows members have a sense of humour that keeps this forum human and entertaining, particularly in this day and age,
By the way I don't mind photos my car being posted if 'spotted' on this forum or on the likes of flckr/photobucket etc. if it is in a public place, on the highway, or at a rally meeting etc, (I accept this as part and parcel of being lucky enough to own a nice moggie) I would however expect that if my car was photographed together with my own house very clearly shown in the background with the intention of posting the car and my property with the location into the public domain available to be viewed by anyone for whatever reasons then I would at least expect by common courtesy to be asked first.

The latest Minor Matters magazine has highlighted that "Thefts of classic vehicles are on the rise"
with the 10 months from June2013 to April 2014 243 classic cars stolen in the UK without any trace of these being recovered.
The fear being that many could be stolen to order , or broken up to be sold for spares through the internet etc.

An interesting point also states that it is not only road going classics that have been targeted but project vehicles whilst the owners are away from their property.

Worrying indeed. Another thing to consider is Street View, the view of my house gives a lovely shot of my Commer camper and, because the software designed to conceal number plates doesn't work on black and silver plates, that's on full view as well

you will have to move the van somewhere else

Move one of my babies - not on your Nelly
Since the last Street View update the gun towers have gone in

panky wrote:Worrying indeed. Another thing to consider is Street View, the view of my house gives a lovely shot of my Commer camper and, because the software designed to conceal number plates doesn't work on black and silver plates, that's on full view as well

You can ask google to remove pictures or blur items that you are not happy with, maybe you could do this with the pictures for your property or just the number plate.

Take this image as an example if you click on the report a problem box in the bottom right hand corner a new window opens up.
[frame][/frame]

This new window is as so and allows you to select the issue that you want blurring and then google should fix the problem.
[frame][/frame]

If you lived underwater, you'd be okay!

Although, expect to have problems with your Electricity & Water supplier.

On the plus side,never have to buy de-icer again!

I'm not so sure, the Arctic, the Moon and Mars are on Street View so it wont be long before they plumb the depths

Maybe the rise in thefts of vehicles is across the whole spectrum?There is no mention of any rise or fall in thefts of modern cars.

tysonn wrote:Maybe the rise in thefts of vehicles is across the whole spectrum?There is no mention of any rise or fall in thefts of modern cars.

Last years statistics according to Honest Johns website (car crime pages) indicates 9 out of 10 of the ' overall cars stolen' listing for 2013 to be older (although not yet regarded as classic) with less sophisticated security enabling thieves to access quickly. It will be interesting to compare with this years statistics if this is still shown as a major trend in the 'highest stolen type of vehicle' catagory figures.

this is what i wanted to say but every one thought i joke about my picture, i think my home is a private place not public for the whole www.

no funny joke this information is protecting our private lives from idiot peoples....

alan

A lot of classic cars are also being stolen for use in "Vintage" banger racing. They strip the car of its parts and sell them, then paint the shell and race it. This happened to someone who writes for Practical Classics a few years ago.

I think I would be more worried of East European scrap metal collectors travelling round

When mine was stolen in April (owned for 27 years) the police said it was probably on a container to UAE where there's a big market for different vehicles.

Apparently there's also not much joy riding anymore; cars are stolen to sell for 'joy' in drugs and trainers but not for use as such.

They also said with classics, they aren't broken up for parts so much anymore. That doesn't really ring true to me but hey ho.

MY advice, for what it's worth is....

Don't trust ANYONE!!

Sounds a bit brutal perhaps, but people see a Morris Minor and they
see money - so lock it,chain it,bolt it down!!

Flimsy pallets alongside the doors for thieves to trip over and damage
themselves on, get THEM before they get YOU!

I think maybe connect you drivers doorhandle to you mains power and give them a 240v shock I dont think they will come back for more hahahahah

Alan

LUR759H wrote:I think maybe connect you drivers doorhandle to you mains power and give them a 240v shock I dont think they will come back for more hahahahah

Alan

Did that with my Mark 1 Cortina in the 70s - local police pointed out in no uncertain terms that this action was "Naughty" and should be refrained from! Bloody spoilsports - I was looking forward to frying the b@st@rds!

Boomlander wrote:

LUR759H wrote:I think maybe connect you drivers doorhandle to you mains power and give them a 240v shock I dont think they will come back for more hahahahah

Alan

Did that with my Mark 1 Cortina in the 70s - local police pointed out in no uncertain terms that this action was "Naughty" and should be refrained from! Bloody spoilsports - I was looking forward to frying the b@st@rds!

I am sure if you put up a warning sign (to comply with all the health and safety rubbish) you would get away with. Though pictures may be needed so that even the illiterate would know.

well guys before you start planning and marketing the new 240v plug in door handle lead, i think i need to make sure you understand i was just joking ok....

i dont want to be involved in killing peoples - hahaha

Alan

I have an old air raid siren connected to the sensors, you can hear it 1/2 a mile away.

One thing that is a bit concerning is that as far as the police that are informed of such a theft, they would most probably only make a note of the incident to simply feed into the famous 'statistics' databank into that particular listing of the type of recorded 'crime' and leave it at that . Have they actually got the manpower,resources etc. resulting in any real interest to investigate effectively any stolen classic vehicles including ones considered of a slightly lower average value ??

A couple of weeks ago BBC National News highlighted that certain crimes are now becoming 'de-crimanalised' by defalt due to various police forces suffering increased budget cuts according to and admitted by some senior officers interviewed.

Keeping safe our Moggies does seem to be even more in our own hands from now on ?