Home Office Car Theft Index (1992)

[Guest]

Very interesting read over here (sorry it's a PDF): http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/prgpdfs/fcpu33.pdf

 

Basically a Home Office report from 1992 into what sorts of cars are stolen, why, etc. Makes some interesting points about estate cars not usually being targeted due to being perceived as less exciting for car thieves, the Vauxhall Astra being a target for joyriders, the MK2 Escorts being stolen as much as the MK3 despite much less of them on the roads.

 

However if you can't be bothered reading all that, skip your way to Appendix C: The Car Theft Index - All Model Ranges and see how your lot fares. Even obscure stuff is in there!

 

Looks like I'm alright: the Charmant, Galant, 323, Stanza and Accord are all in the low risk bracket.

 

Bad news for Capri/Cortina/older Escort fans though - nearly all high-risk! And curiously, the MK2 Metro (must be the sportier front-end).

[Guest]

How does a Piazza fare? My PDF reader needs moar helicopters.

[Guest]

How does a Piazza fare? My PDF reader needs moar helicopters.

Got it working!Piazza isn't listed, but the Trooper is a medium risk.So's the Celeste, weirdly enough. From window licking batshit Irishman maybe, other than that........

[Guest]

Surprisingly, Piazzas aren't in, but I reckon it would place "medium-risk" as it isn't a Ford/Vauxhall.

[Guest]

Surprisingly, Piazzas aren't in, but I reckon it would place "medium-risk" as it isn't a Ford/Vauxhall.

Fords of that era are piss easy to steal.

 

My mate had an M Reg fish face Escrote, and with my S Reg Ka key I could open the passenger door, his boot and start his engine.

[Guest]

So's the Celeste, weirdly enough. From window licking batshit Irishman maybe, other than that........

Hawkins: You know something, Vicinski, I bet five more cars have been stolen in just the time I've been here.

Maindrian Pace: no i dont think so hawkins,,,,,,,goodnite .....skool

[r.welfare]

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL. I do like the original Gone In 60 Seconds, but it really is the worst acted/scripted film ever.

[Guest]

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL. I do like the original Gone In 60 Seconds, but it really is the worst acted/scripted film ever.

Well that's because Halicki wasn't an actor or a director, he was an scrap metal dealer with a few quid with some contacts in the industry.

 

Fair play to the bloke, he literally did everything

 

I used the original GISS as an extreme example of auteur theory. My wanker of a tutor said it didn't count because it was a crap film

[VWPowered]

low risk for the polo

[MrRegieRitmo]

Interesting to see which Fiats are rated low & which are medium! Strangely the Strada MkI / II are medium but the MkIII only low! Something to do with the round door handles? It appears that the R30 was the only desirable Renault hence the only one rated medium!

[MrRegieRitmo]

The only Ford no-one wanted to nick was the Anglia / Prefect! Before the days of Harry Potter mind!Interesting the Cavalier MkIII was rated so much safer than it's rivals & other susceptible Vauxhalls of the time, especially Astras! You'd think it would have been higher risk due to the prevalence & high profile of the model, they must have worked really hard at their security!Most of our "OMG!" cars were rated safe (cos no-one wanted them even then!)

[Volksy]

IIRC the MkIII Camelsear was pretty much the first car on the market with 'Deadlocks'. GR8 4 LOCKIN KIDZ IN

[j-j]

#You know you're driving shite when:all your cars are in the 'Low Risk' section of the report

[mnde]

#You know you're driving shite when:all your cars are in the 'Low Risk' section of the report

Hmm let me see:Citroen BX - tickCitroen GSA - tick... Estate - tick Mark.

[HillmanImp]

Fords of that era are piss easy to steal.

 

I rememer watching Top Gear or Watchdog or something in the 80's where they were testing out the locks on each car and timing how long it took a professional to get into it.

 

Ford and Vauxhall were stated as saying 'Our locks are state fo the art, it will be near impossible to get into' etc and the chap getting access in under 10 seconds. On the other side of the scale you had Peugeot saying , 'Just standard locks, nothing special' , and leaving him stumped in the minute allocated to him to get in.

[CortinaDave]

Interesting to see how many mk4 and 5 Cortinas were still on the road at the end of the eighties.. almost as many mk5 cortinas as mk1 sierras even though they had only been out of production for a couple of years.Apparently less than 2000 mk4's and 5's left now. Thats one heck of a lot of scrapped cars!Amusing to see that among the lowest risk of theft are FSO's and Yugo's... somehow I doubt that was because of their amazing security features...

[brammy777]

you know those dvla figures which were used in auto express to find out the 10 most scrapped cars, did the figures which came up for number on the road only count ones with road tax?There must be a fair few of each, particularly cortinas,marinas/allegros and metros which were untaxed at the time, as we all know cars being unlicensed doesnt mean their dead yet. If only the dlva let us check how many were left!

[Guest]

Ah but it would be zillions wouldnt it, I reckon the majority of cars that came off the road pre-SORN scrapped without the Doovla being informed, and those that had a computerised record (i.e. 70s onwards) will therefore show as being unlicenced - but so will those sitting in fields, barns, etc for more than 11 years.Even since 1998 you cant be sure that a SORN vehicle = a laid up vehicle, because there will be some that have been scrapped but the owner's keeping the registration document "live" for some reason. (the future reshelling of a dead non-tax-exempt Mini or MGB probably the closest to a legit reason!)Equally an unlicenced vehicle on the DVLA database wont necessarily correlate to a scrapped vehicle, as the owner cant always be tracked down to receive his/her automatic fine but the vehicle can still physically exist, somewhere.

[vicsmith]

There are also some cars which seems to have eluded the Sorn system entirely, I know of a certain Ford Capri which currently comes up as unlicensed since October 07, yet it passed it`s MOT last week and it`s owner has neither declared the car sorn nor been bothered by any fines during any of the lengthy gaps that the car has been untaxed for over the last 10 years, so if it`s previous owner did an enquiry now they would assume their trusty old steed had made it another 9 years since they got rid and was now dead, which is not the case.

[brammy777]

I didnt mean there would be alot still around, but in the case of the marina particularly (considering how many arent left) even 6-7 examples unlicensed would be good news. Knowing how many places in the UK have old cars just laying around due to any number of circumstances, there has to be a few. Obviously some, even most will be rotten, but there has to be a handful of each still in respectable, not too far gone condition.But saying that, im sure youve all seen that Marina convertible someone found which had been laying around for YEARS and its beyond the definition of rotton, yet is still being restored!

[Simon M]

That was Linda Lusardi's Marina convertible though, wasn't it? A bit of a holy grail for Marina fans as I understand it - its existence was debated for ages before someone found it under a tarp!

[brammy777]

Thats the one yesRotten as hell, but being restored At least i think it still is, i forgot my password to the marina/ital forum haha

[Guest]

I didnt mean there would be alot still around, but in the case of the marina particularly (considering how many arent left) even 6-7 examples unlicensed would be good news.

DVLA will probably tell you the number left in existence as being those definitely on SORN or taxed. For statistical purposes any "unlicenced" ones can be assumed to be scrapped, although on the other foot DVLA will now assume anything changing from SORN or taxed to "unlicenced" as being used on the road without a disc and therefore ripe for an automatic fine...What I'm saying is, there may be a fair number of Marinas still physically existing, but off the DVLA radar as far as their stats are concerned. But probably a much larger proportion of other cat-piss favourites, such as MGBs/Midgets, Minors, and Scimitar GTEs (99.7% of the production run still existing in a moss-covered condition on someone's front lawn)

[brammy777]

you make a good point there actually.Marina values seem low still though, im always confused how they dont go for much despite rarityTheres a marina in a front garden in yately, a lateish one with the rectangular rear lights, as opposed to the oblong wraparound ones.Looks saveable. But yeh, regarding scimitars, they all appear to have been favored over gnomes. I suppose the figures auto express posted are probably not actual numbers, what with all the possible unlicensed ones, and ones kept on records for dodgy reasons.