1987 Fiat Strada 60 MK3 In Bromley ( Needs Saving !! ) Calling all cars..

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

If you want it (I don't), talk to the caretaker and ask him if you can just take it. Bung him 50 quid etc.

[Burnside]

Windscreen is smashed from about the middle across to the left hand side. Think there maybe also a small dent to the left of the rear washer jet. Not that it bothers me, just to find a UK 5dr MK3 Ritmo / Strada is something I've always dreamed of! 

 

Bonus it still has it's orange Fiat information sticker about child rear safety locks on the rear quarter glass too.

 

Got access to a Ridged bar myself for towing another vehicle but think I'd be shot if I was caught trying to tow this 150 miles plus on the back of the Fiorino Van. Plus I doubt there any keys to steer it without breaking the lock off if it hasn't been done already.

 

Can anybody get the Caretakers phone number so contact can be made?

[doubleyeller]

God almighty, another thread where you're all going round and round the houses trying to convince yourselves that it's ok for you to steal someone else's motor because it's only you.

 

No it bloody well isn't! All this talk ie well the owner MUST be deceased etc etc is just a load of old horse shit, theft is theft. It doesn't belong to you and could be someone's pride and not which has been huffed out of their pickup by a knobhead landlord for all you know.

 

Leave it alone and wait for it to come up in the copart auction if you want it that bad.....

[Burnside]

God almighty, another thread where you're all going round and round the houses trying to convince yourselves that it's ok for you to steal someone else's motor because it's only you.

 

No it bloody well isn't! All this talk ie well the owner MUST be deceased etc etc is just a load of old horse shit, theft is theft. It doesn't belong to you and could be someone's pride and not which has been huffed out of their pickup by a knobhead landlord for all you know.

 

Point well made, hence why I'm asking if it's possible to speak to someone who can legally say who's property it is, but if we all just sit on the fence about it then nobody does claim it. Then there will be only one outcome most likely a rare and possibly unique Car gets bridged and people will be saying words to the effect of another thread where people talk the talk but don't walk the walk? 

[doubleyeller]

Point well made, hence why I'm asking if it's possible to speak to someone who can legally say who's property it is, but if we all just sit on the fence about it then nobody does claim it. Then there will be only one outcome most likely a rare and possibly unique Car gets bridged and people will be saying words to the effect of another thread where people talk the talk but don't walk the walk?

 

Oh I understand the frustration you're feeling alright - I know how I'd feel if a R20L suddenly turned up seemingly abandoned and days away from the bridge.

 

But take it from me, however good it looks on top, it will be rotten as a pear and need a phenomenal amount of work doing to it.

 

Plus, Ritmos / Stradas are like the Renault 20/30: not actually rare at all, loads of them still about, it's just that very few are actually taxed and running. They come up on ebay in this condition as barn finds all the time

[Lankytim]

DY is of course correct, there's a risk you'll get your collar felt if you take it away but If the caretaker has tried to find out who owns it and has been instructed to get rid then it's a bit different to just taking someone's pride and joy from the side of the road. 

[warren t claim]

According to How Many Left what are the numbers of these still in existence?

[Lankytim]

Just had a look and there's 0 Strada 60s left (not sure I believe that though)

 

all other types are down to single figures. I guess it depends if it's registered as a Strada or a Ritmo or Super Strada or whatever

[warren t claim]

Just had a look and there's 0 Strada 60s left (not sure I believe that though)

 

all other types are down to single figures. I guess it depends if it's registered as a Strada or a Ritmo or Super Strada or whatever

I can't believe that there aren't quite a few 105 and 130TC Strada's in preservation?

[Burnside]

Oh I understand the frustration you're feeling alright - I know how I'd feel if a R20L suddenly turned up seemingly abandoned and days away from the bridge.

 

But take it from me, however good it looks on top, it will be rotten as a pear and need a phenomenal amount of work doing to it.

 

Plus, Ritmos / Stradas are like the Renault 20/30: not actually rare at all, loads of them still about, it's just that very few are actually taxed and running. They come up on ebay in this condition as barn finds all the time

 

True these cars rusted pretty well and this one is maybe no exception to the rule having been possibly left as well for over 20 years off the road.

 

But a UK RHD 5dr MK3 Fiat Ritmo / Strada is a rare find, I think it surprise you how little of these remain over here, the later Mk2 / 3 Strada's never sold as well as the MK1 Strada's did and I can personally only recount seeing a MK3 5dr Strada being sold in a poor state about 11 years ago on ebay. 

 

You got more chance of finding a MK1 RHD Strada 5dr or the Strada's cousin the Regata 4dr than a MK2/3 5dr Strada. The MK2 105TC or MK2 /3 130TC and Convertible models in 85 Super Spec do still turn up though from time to time. 

 

Think I drove the only roadworthy UK Strada MK3 70CL about 6/7 years ago at a Auto Italia show briefly round a field. But the owner wouldn't sell it at the time. 

 

Of course the easy solution is buy a LHD example but then that would be too easy. 

 

If anybody does know of any available RHD UK Ritmo / Strada please let me or puntopaul know. 

[warren t claim]

If only ReggieRitmo was still posting on here...

[Rave]

God almighty, another thread where you're all going round and round the houses trying to convince yourselves that it's ok for you to steal someone else's motor because it's only you.

 

No it bloody well isn't! All this talk ie well the owner MUST be deceased etc etc is just a load of old horse shit, theft is theft. It doesn't belong to you and could be someone's pride and not which has been huffed out of their pickup by a knobhead landlord for all you know.

 

Leave it alone and wait for it to come up in the copart auction if you want it that bad.....

 

IANAL, but as I understand it for an offence of theft to occur, there would have to be an intention to permanently deprive the owner of it. Merely removing the car and storing it somewhere to stop it being towed and crushed would not constitute theft if you then took reasonable steps to try and establish who owned it. The offence of taking a conveyance without authority is only committed if the vehicle is used as a conveyance, so again, merely taking and storing it is not an offence.

 

https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/theft-act-offences

 

If a complaint is made to the police, then they might well arrest first and ask questions later, but you'd have a reasonable defence if you'd acted as above. Actually finding the rightful owner is likely to prove a pain in the arse, and as far as I know without doing that you couldn't legally register the car in your name and use it on the road, unless there's some way that 'adverse possession' could be claimed.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adverse_possession

 

...but if I had a way to lift this car and a place to store it safely, I would, because I don't think I'd be committing an offence by doing so, and I think there's a real danger it'll end up being crushed. Like I say though, IANAL, and it's up to anyone here who is considering taking it to do their own research or consult a lawyer first.

[sierraman]

I’d love to see solicitors face on that appointment, between queries about divorces etc he’s got someone asking about the legality of towing a 30 year old fiat away.

 

The council won’t entertain acting as a go between on this, like they said above wait till it’s at copart. It’s not worth getting your collar felt.

[Rave]

I’d love to see solicitors face on that appointment, between queries about divorces etc he’s got someone asking about the legality of towing a 30 year old fiat away.

 

Well quite, but one has to cover one's arse when doling out half-baked legal opinions.

 

It does seem that there's basically no way for a private citizen to legally take ownership of this obviously abandoned car, whereas the council and their contractors can with little bother, it would seem. Another example of crony capitalism screwing over the little man, fuck the system etc. However given that fact, it seems to me a sensible course of action would be to stick a polite note under the wipers pointing out to whoever eventually hiabs it away that it's a rare car and that we personally know of several people who would pay well above scrap value for it, so it's worth more at Copart than in the crusher. Better than doing nothing, at least.

[stuboy]

be a shame to see it get cubed.

 

but the law protects the rich not the shiters

[bramz7]

I had hoped this would be saved, somehow, by now. However as others have alluded to this would probably open a whole can of legal issues, especially if said owner or descendants saw it for sale in the future...

It's a pretty tidy thing given its time off of the road, but it would need every single perishable replacing. Suddenly a free car begins to look unappealing to those without the know how and deep pockets it will inevitably need. On the flip side though, there isn't actually much on a near base spec 80s Fiat in the first place..

 

I quite like the Stradas and Ritmos. Late ones are still seen in Italy as cheap wheels. The door handles disappoint me every time though, who cares if they're more conventional?!

[D Spares & Tyres]

If there is a council notice then just take it at the end of the date on it. The owner, if there is one would have taken it by then.

 

Apply for V5. You almost certainly will get one.

 

If you are worried about come back or being spotted then just change the number plate. £80 plus cost of plate.

 

 

But in reality..... Nobody cares, just do it

[MikeR]

"But take it from me, however good it looks on top, it will be rotten as a pear and need a phenomenal amount of work doing to it."

 

 

having owned one from this era , I can vouch for the spider like threads of oxide in the Russian metal , you will be forever chasing rust ...

 

we became masters of the tin can/ rivet/ self tapping screw repair patch hidden with a dollop of under seal ..

 

 

 

and the nearside drive shaft gaiters  will be split .........

[neil1971]

My dad had three Stradas (how did I end up being a shiter?!), Mk1 in bronze EUL511V which lasted until 1992 according to DVLA, orange Mk1 KAR965V (not 100% on that reg and doesn't show up on DVLA but from memory it got written off when my stepmother collided with an Audi 100 which had lost control and ended up on her side of the road, and finally JTW199Y which was purple, a later shape one with the more conventional slatted grill I think. My dad died when I was 17 and I did have that last Strada on loan for a little while after I passed my test, looks like it lived on until 1994.

 

None of this waffle will help this car unfortunately but hopefully someone with more skills than me can help it live on, I can't remember the last time I saw one.

[Alexg]

Jesus H, no one's planning to have it away with someone else's property. All known evidence points to a car that is forgotten and/or abandoned. Of course this is no guarantee, but I can't believe that any Autoshitter would argue the toss if the actual owner came forward after rescuing. If it were me missing my Strada, I'd be thankful an enthusiast got there before the fragman.

[MikeR]

 

remember the advert ?

[puntopaul]

I certainly don't want to encourage theft, and I fully appreciate the fate of the owner is not certain.

 

And that the in's and out's, of how the car came to be dumped or abandoned are merely speculation.

 

I just tried to logically join the gaps, as to why the car may have ended up where it did. But if the car has been taken in some sort of skulduggery, then I'd like to think if the shoe was on the other foot. Someone out there would save my pride and joy, rather than finding out too late it's been bridged!! Least the rightful owner, would then actually have a car to be returned.

 

I'm not trying to cause any arguments, and appreciate everyone's opinion.

 

But at the end of the day all I want is to save this car, as I think if it is left to the council an whichever scrap yard is removing the Fiat.

 

The car stands a very realistic danger of being cubed, I know if it's not your thing it maybe just seems like a piece of old Italian metal. Without massive value, I'm not trying to save a polar bear or the Amazon rain forest admittedly. 

 

As has been mentioned these late Strada's / Ritmo's are super rare, and definitely not common. More so if another hasn't popped up on eBay in 11 years, if there's a fleet of these out there on Sorn or whatever it'd be a surprise.

 

This car deserves a chance, an even if it turned out to be terminal there is someone who could make use of the parts.

 

 

I just want it to be someone with an nous of sense, to make that decision.

[sierraman]

The problem with the council is they don’t express common sense with stuff, it’s a stickler to the rule book. Hence they end up paying through the nose for stuff and then disposing of stuff like this would in all probability go to a scrapyard. That’s when the problem occurs if you were to approach them, chances are it the breakers would know you wanted it bad so you’d pay top whack

[Zelandeth]

If I had the means and the space I'd definitely grab it and offer safe harbour until someone who wants it long term could pipe up.

 

Sadly I've already got two vehicles parked on the garden rather than drive, and have zip by way or recovery kit.

 

I know nothing about it other than that it seems to share the early Cinquecento door handles...and that I've never driven a small Fiat I didn't like...

 

For an unrestored E plate Fiat it looks astonishingly tidy too.

[lesapandre]

Take Riley's advice no one is looking

 

[Kringle]

Basically, if I had the facilities I would be in touch with the caretaker, have a word with neighbours etc because I doubt the council do a ring round, if there are zero leads then as soon as the notice has expired, rescue it.

[Burnside]

Basically, if I had the facilities I would be in touch with the caretaker, have a word with neighbours etc because I doubt the council do a ring round, if there are zero leads then as soon as the notice has expired, rescue it.

 

Does anybody know if there a way of us making contact i.e via phone / email etc to the caretaker so we can establish if there a chance of saving this? 

[lesapandre]

What happened? This needs picking up with the assent of the caretaker and putting somewhere safe whilst the ownership is sorted out. Any ideas?

[lesapandre]

[Tadhg Tiogar]

If there is a council notice then just take it at the end of the date on it. The owner, if there is one would have taken it by then.

 

Apply for V5. You almost certainly will get one.

 

If you are worried about come back or being spotted then just change the number plate. £80 plus cost of plate.

 

 

But in reality..... Nobody cares, just do it

 

Necessity* makes thieves of us all.

 

 

remember the advert ?

 

I remember the car sticker:

 

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