Stolen burnt out cars

[needforspeed]

I was thinking back to my childhood in the early 90s and was thinking that i have not seen a burnt out car for years.

During the summer months i remember always seeing cars dumped or burnt out after being nicked and ragged around.

There was a big bit of land with a path big enough for a car near me called "the puggy" which had slopes on each end about a 10ft drop and that was the "car graveyard" full of burnt out stolen cars. When i was young we used to go over and olay on them. If you where lucky you would find 1 that had not been burnt out yet.

 

Not seen or smelled that distinctive smell for years is it just car security is better or has the "joyrider" now died off in place of stolen to order theft!

[HH-R]

Aye, it's something you don't really see nowadays. Immobilisers fitted as standard probably killed them off, not impossible to get round but too much thought/effort needed for a drink/drug fuelled 20 minute laugh n burn.

 

Metros, mk2 Fiestas and Novas, wonder how many died at the hands of joyriders?

 

There was a bloke on the telly not long ago who reckoned he could nick any car, but really it just seemed like he know how to smash a steering column shroud off and bridge some wires.

[needforspeed]

Haha yea, we used to go over and see how many cars we could name just from shell,

Always the same few, some mk2 Astras and pug 205s aswell

[loserone]

There were two cars missing their wheels on the A14 on Saturday - presumably stolen and not yet on fire!

[trigger]

I used to see quite a few where i lived as it was in the sticks, I recall seeing a Peugeot 205 GTi that was just set alight on the Birch Areodrome around 1998 time and having to call the fire brigade over it.

 

There was also a red XR3 burnt out in a field around the corner from my house around 1995ish, It was there for ages as we would jump on it and pull parts off it.

 

Lately I've started seeing a lot more dumped cars along the A12/A14 so I guess it's only a matter of time before we start seeing an increase in burnt out cars now scrap is on it's arse again.

[They_all_do_that_sir]

My wife's car was burnt out last year, still happens over here, not as much as before mind.

 

Three cars broken into then set on fire to get rid of forensic evidence

[overrun]

There was a bloke on the telly not long ago who reckoned he could nick any car, but really it just seemed like he know how to smash a steering column shroud off and bridge some wires.

I saw that.

IIRC he couldn't get a mk3 Mondeo away in the scrappy.

He got as far as bringing the ignition lights on, and claimed it was ready to roll.

 

What a clueless (and thankfully out of date) muppet.

[Matt]

I think it's both.

 

I've only seen a burnt out car once, that was in Ayrshire. Saw some hooded youths trying to nick a car (MK3 Escort I think) in broad daylight once. No points for guessing where that was.

[Tamworthbay]

Been a few around here too, mostly older cars. My mate had his mini nicked at 7pm in the summer. They hit a kerb and smashed the wheel. Thy were about to torch it when a massive jogger came past and threatened to rearrange their features. Shame he didn't.

[trigger]

About 6 years ago now i got woken about 5am to the sound of a car alarm and a warm glow in the bedroom, I looked out the window and saw the neighbours Punto on fire and further up the street a Renault Clio also on fire. After calling 999, getting dressed and running downstairs i found the neighbour drinking a cup of tea and smoking a fag watching it!.

 

He said there was sod all he could do it so was just waiting for the fire engine to arrive, he was more pissed off about the fact he'd just filled it with fuel! It made a mess of the road, the tree opposite, the hedge and telegraph pole though. This was during the summer holidays and we think it was drunk kids doing it.

 

 

 

 

[HH-R]

There are certain roads round here where everyone knows that if you break down, your car WILL be a torched shell when you come back to it the next day.

[Junkman]

I read an article recently that says the car theft figures are at a 48 year low in the UK:

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/transport/11558743/Number-of-cars-stolen-in-the-UK-falls-to-48-year-low.html

 

This is not reflecting on your insurance premium, mind.

[Bren]

Motorcycles and scooters are the source of pyrotechnics these days.

[beko1987]

My first car was burnt out on mums drive kids set an estate agebts sign on fire and laid it by the rear wheel.

 

Took the car, stepdads 7 month old company car, front of the garage, next doors fence, melted their soffits and guttering and the green bin with it.

 

Id de insired it the day before as I was selling/scrapping it, which in hindsight probably saved me a few quid on a worthless car being claimed for.

 

Worst bit was Id been at a mates smoking alot of weed and having beers, and came home probably an hour before it happened, went to bed steaming drunk, got woken up by my stepdad shouting to get out of the house, saw my car in flames and cried, then sobered right up. By the time we got downstairs and got the cat, it caught the zafira and we saw it fill with smoke and go black. Then me and next door kicked the fence down so we could get out via their garden.

 

It was the smell afterwards that was awful, I phoned a scrappy as soon as plod didnt care anymore and got it taken away. Stepdad got a hire car the next day, and the zaffy was dragger away 2 weeks later, and a new one dropped at his office. I bought my puma 3 days later after my dad gave me some money.

 

Was a horrible time tbh. Stepdad got a whole new garage roof and utility room roof oht if it as its one flat bit of felt. My stash was in the garage, had to sneak in 2 days later and get it, it was a mess in there.

[brownnova]

Saw a burnt out discovery on my route to work a few weeks ago, and my first thought them was that I hadn't seen a burnt out car for ages. There's still a nasty mark on the road! But its a country lane so its covered with mud this time of year! But you really don't see it as much as you used to. Was usually Pug 309s and Mk3 Escorts where I grew up!

[New POD]

In my humble opinion the only people who would torch a car in Miseryside is the owner, so he could claim on the insurance, which is usually cheaper than fixing whatever is broken.

Genuine thieves have a plan of how to make a profit, and usually that's either a cloning/ringing or a strip down of all the parts, and selling them on gumtree.  

[Richard]

I still see quite a few around here. This was the most recent, IIRC it was exactly two months old when I saw it.

[Richard]

And it's been stolen again, here it is.

 

[chaseracer]

^ That could be any modern blob, couldn't it...?

[UltraWomble]

Burned out cars were a regular sight in Newall Green (Wythenshawe) back in the late 80's / early 90's - Escorts & Mk 1 Astras. Even saw a panda car burned out one morning (Escort).

[scaryoldcortina]

I lived in the west end of Newcastle from 1989 to 1994,  - I saw a lot of burned cars, sometimes right outside the house. Every single day there was a stolen car razzed around the estate by clueless hoons who set fire to it when it broke or they got too bored. Don't really see it any more, but there are plenty of "oops, it caught fire by accident honest" around here instead.

[Barry Cade]

^ That could be any modern blob, couldn't it...?

[Slappy]

^^ Astra. Took me 3 goes though, first I thought Mazda 3, then Focus. The small quarterlight window and the triangular C-D pillar one was the clincher.

 

I often saw Renault 5s burnt out about 20 years ago up near Eastwell Manor Lake in Ashford. Every time the family would go up there for a wander or what not, there'd be another one burnt out.

[DodgyBastard]

Saw this one last month

 

DSC_6441 by srblythe, on Flickr

[fordperv]

I grew up on a council estate in the 90s and burnt out cars were a very common site, I lived near a lane where joyriders dumped their cars and torched them when they had done with them I used to love having a look around them, even when I moved in the early 2000s to a house in the middle of nowhere with only farm houses around, people used to burn stolen cars at the bottom of the lane that lead to the houses there as well.

[DodgyBastard]

Spotted this collection a few months ago in a travellers yard, I can only guess that they had been set on fire since being left there...

 

DSC_8818 by srblythe, on Flickr

 

DSC_8815 by srblythe, on Flickr

 

DSC_8814 by srblythe, on Flickr

 

DSC_8813 by srblythe, on Flickr

 

DSC_8802 by srblythe, on Flickr

 

DSC_8801 by srblythe, on Flickr

[cort16]

As a concept I prefer the approach of pushing them in a quarry. There used to be a mini in a small quarry near where I lived as a kid used to like looking at . It was a really half arsed attempt as quarry was probably 30ft deep and the water at the bottom was probably only about 2 ft deep so just kind of sat there nose down.

[MrBiscuits]

The best thing I found as a kid was a mk4 Cortina that had been pushed into the sea. It'd been there a long while I reckon as some of the outer panels were missing and the rest were full of holes. We used to chuck stones at it, but at low tide it was fully exposed complete with slimy seats and pinto motor covered in barnacles

[DavidB]

Spotted this collection a few months ago in a travellers yard, I can only guess that they had been set on fire since being left there...

 

DSC_8818 by srblythe, on Flickr

 

DSC_8815 by srblythe, on Flickr

 

DSC_8814 by srblythe, on Flickr

 

DSC_8813 by srblythe, on Flickr

 

DSC_8802 by srblythe, on Flickr

 

DSC_8801 by srblythe, on Flickr

Reminds me of Retro Rides Gathering circa 2010

[Richard]

^ That could be any modern blob, couldn't it...?

 

Yes, but the front bumper had fallen off and escaped the fire so I was able to do a check on it.

 

Your Free Vehicle Report

 

Registration DL15XTD

Vehicle

Details Manufacturer Vauxhall Model Astra Sri Cdti S/S Colour Grey Fuel Type Diesel Engine Size 1956cc Vehicle Checks Outstanding Finance Buy a check to reveal Written Off Buy a check to reveal Stolen No Exported No Road Tax Status Expires : 01 July 2016 240 days left MOT Status Expires : Details not held VIC Marker No

Registration Date  23 June 2015

 

I took the picture on 23 August. I notice it's still showing as taxed and not stolen even now, that's a bit odd.