'64 Stolen at Woodward Dream Cruise

[Harmon C.]

Re: '64 Stolen at Woodward Dream Cruise

A red '64 convertible was stolen from Birmingham this past Saturday during the Woodward Dream Cruise. The owner (from Ontario, Canada) left it parked on the street near Woodward for about half an hour. When he returned, the car was gone.

Last year, a green '66 convertible was stolen, also from Birmingham.

Birmingham, MI is a very upscale community. I would pick Birmingham as the safest town of all the towns the Dream Cruise parades through, but it's apparently not safe enough to leave your Corvette parked on the street.

I see a pattern so with the help of the local police maybe next year a decoy should be put out for bait. A car with enough gas to go a quarter mile and NBC on hand to film a crook would be fun to watch.

[John D.]

Re: '64 Stolen at Woodward Dream Cruise

John Hinckley reported that the Woodward cruise had at least 40,000 cars. You would have figured possible that more than one would get stolen. I mean more than that are taken from the mall everyday.

Solution to slow the thief down. A solution that few use. Buy yourself a nice Denver Boot. The cops use them on on your wheel if you don't pay your parking tickets. They come for all kinds of vehicles, tire widths, planes, etc. Highly recommended. Cost is a tad less than 500 bucks.
Will do a nice job against most thiefs. (but not all)
But if the thief has a trailer with nice winch in it the boot will just slide on the ground making a lot of racket though. One time I forgot about the boot and started taking off. Whew!!! Talk about damage. JD

[Gerald C.]

Re: '64 Stolen at Woodward Dream Cruise

Anyone use those steering wheel bars that lock the steering wheel and the brake pedal together? Or the ones that prevent the steering wheel from being turned.

I realize this won't help stop a tow truck!

[Stuart F.]

Re: '64 Stolen at Woodward Dream Cruise

I'm like most of the fellows with regards to where, when, and under what circumstances I would leave my car alone and a potential target. I guess what worries me most is the tow truck scenario where the bad guy's might target mine at my home garage. I've given that the most thought, and have hurricane reinforced garage doors equipped with alarm sensors tied into my home system which is monitored through a cell phone circuit. Beyond that, given a possible quick smash and grab attempt, I have a plan to counter that with a "worst case scenario" response which would find me escaping out the back, circling around one house over, and establishing a free fire zone approach. If they want my baby, there will be a big price to pay.

Stu Fox

[Timothy B.]

Re: '64 Stolen at Woodward Dream Cruise

Stu, Introduce them to your buddy "Smith"!!

[Donald B.]

Re: '64 Stolen at Woodward Dream Cruise

I periodically go to Donut Derelicts - a weekly gathering of cars in Huntington Beach, CA. The gathering starts before 5AM and ends by 8AM. Usually there are 100 - 250 cars. Cars range from 1906 steam driven to 2009 Exotics - most are 50s - 70s muscle.

While walking around I'm always surprised to see how many people leave their keys in the ignition!

Never heard of a problem, but it only takes one A-Hole to ruin your day.

[Pat M.]

Re: '64 Stolen at Woodward Dream Cruise

I bought one that immobilizes the brake or clutch pedal using the floor as leverage, instead of attaching to the steering wheel, similar to this:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000L9T7AY/...Y&linkCode=asn

This prevents the thief from simply cutting into the steering wheel to remove the device. The time it would take to pick the lock or cut through the device's thick steel may be just enough of a deterrent to prevent some thefts.

[Stuart F.]

Re: '64 Stolen at Woodward Dream Cruise

Tim;

I guess I forgot to mention, or rather thought it was better to be discreet, but my "Mr. Smith" of choice is a little Chi-Com souvenior I shipped back from SEA years ago. Looks more like something from the Al Capone era.

Many of the old cars have ignition switches that are pretty worn and can actually operate w/o a key, so I guess why bother to remove them except to have the appearance of normal function and not show a red flag by leaving them in the ignition, something like our nickle operated locking gas caps.

Stu fox

[Bill M.]

Re: '64 Stolen at Woodward Dream Cruise

Anyone use those steering wheel bars that lock the steering wheel and the brake pedal together? Or the ones that prevent the steering wheel from being turned.

Yep. Had one when I had to park in a condo community garage where there were four individual doors opening to an open 4-car garage. If a neighbor left a door open, my Corvette was exposed.

The garage floor was sloped, and I could just push in the clutch, and the car would roll out the door into the sun. One day I did that, but forgot to remove the lock on the brake pedal. I had my brand new car parked straight across from the garage door, and the Corvette was headed straight for the side of it. I found that the old spindly steering wheel could deflect a lot with no permanent damage! (I started using the clutch pedal after that.)

[Bill M.]

Re: '64 Stolen at Woodward Dream Cruise

Bill,

Keep us posted on how this plays out with the insurance company. Lots of threads re agreed value and stated value and I am curious if this total loss is resolved satisfactorily

Randy

Randy:

We'll never know. I don't know either guy, and won't contact a stranger out of curiosity. I would just be reminding them of a very painful event that they would like to forget. For me, it's been 39 years, I got the car back, and it still is a lousy memory.

Bill

[Jeffrey S.]

Re: '64 Stolen at Woodward Dream Cruise

In an earlier post I mentioned that when I purchased my '69 in '71 I installed a kill switch but I also purchased a "Krook-Loc". Every time I parked the car I hooked it around the brake and the flat steel spokes of my steering wheel. I still use it today on occasion if I'm going into a restaurant or will be leaving the car unattended for any length of time. Perhaps the switch and the lock give a false sense of security but we do what we can.
Jeff

[Bill M.]

Re: '64 Stolen at Woodward Dream Cruise

I have a plan to counter that with a "worst case scenario" response which would find me escaping out the back, circling around one house over, and establishing a free fire zone approach. If they want my baby, there will be a big price to pay. Stu Fox

Stu:

Just in case you're not kidding, I have to tell you a story:

A retired guy rented the second story of a house in Detroit. His living room window looked out on the street where he parked his brand-new 1973 LTD. He heard somebody breaking into his car, and shot the kid from his window right in the head. Dead.

I was shocked to read that the police were gonna arrest the shooter. The only reason they didn't prosecute him was that the LTD was the only thing of value in his life. (I guess they figured a jury would not convict?)

Anyway, my strategy is to grab my cell and follow the Vette-stealing s.o.b in mama's hemi-powered 4-door while dialing 911...might just avoid a messy clean-up of the interior.

Bill

[John D.]

Re: '64 Stolen at Woodward Dream Cruise

A local Chevy dealer has a solution to keep his new Camaros from being stolen. He parks a nice black Z06 in front of them as no one wants the Z06. He has had it since Oct 08. True story. I laugh when I drive buy seeing such a scenerio. But I think it bothers me. In fact I know it does. JD

[Valeria H.]

Re: '64 Stolen at Woodward Dream Cruise

I ordered the Lo Jack today. It will be installed next Friday. The cost was not nominal but I think it is worth it for my peace of mind. There are several different types you can purchase. The basic for $695, the one with the early warning feature (which is the one I bought) that has an alarm that goes off as soon as the car is moved without a keychain fob being present, and they offer one that has a gps system that can track you car's location automatically. I probably should have gone all the way.
I hope I am not sorry.
Valeria

[Joe L.]

Re: '64 Stolen at Woodward Dream Cruise

I ordered the Lo Jack today. It will be installed next Friday. The cost was not nominal but I think it is worth it for my peace of mind. There are several different types you can purchase. The basic for $695, the one with the early warning feature (which is the one I bought) that has an alarm that goes off as soon as the car is moved without a keychain fob being present, and they offer one that has a gps system that can track you car's location automatically. I probably should have gone all the way.
I hope I am not sorry.
Valeria

Valeria-----


One caution with LoJack: when these systems are installed the installers usually want to locate them in an area of their choosing and without letting the owner know of and/or approve of said location. That might well involve modifications to your car that you might not want to be made. So, you might want to check on this first.

Most of these devices are installed on modern cars or street rods and the owners don't usually care about "originality" considerations, at all. They want maximum protection and the more deeply the device is "buried" in the car's "entrails", the better. Such installations might not be consistent with the likes of classic Corvette owners, especially those concerned with every aspect of originality. Of course, compromising the placement of the device to suit originality considerations also lessens the effectiveness of it (i.e. if a car thief can easily find and get at it, they will remove it and render it useless).