Security worries for old car ownership April 15, 2009
Posted by richard in : What I learned today , trackbackHERE’S something I haven’t considered before. When I buy a classic Mini, how am I going to make sure it remains mine?
See, old car security is, generally, pants.
My parents’ old BL cars had locks so lax, it often didn’t matter if mum lost her Mini keys. She could just use dad’s Dolomite ones. Me, I remember getting into the Mini once with the key to the garage.
Thatcham was just a distinct of Berkshire. Alarms were something that sounded when the fuel was low. Modern cars are immeasurably more secure – but this doesn’t mean old ones have benefited.
Nowadays, we’re used to leaving our cars in the middle of urbansville and, so long as the window’s not smashed, generally finding both it and its contents there when we get back.
I sure won’t be able to do this with a Mini, though.
Night out in Brum? Leave it on the street and I may as well Sellotape the keys to the roof. Use a car park and, even if they have CCTV, the canny criminal would still be in and away without rousing even the most caffeinated security guard.
Even storing it in the garage could be an issue – the locks on that are barely any more secure than the car’s potentially would be.
No, this is a worry. It was brought home to me by something Tracker said – apparently, lots of owners are fitting tracking devices to their classics, and the company’s responded by ensuring installations can be done discreetly, without being seen and putting concourse show points at risk.
Learning as I go, I certainly am. How does everyone else tackle classic car security?
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A friend of mine bought a beautiful low-mileage Rover SD1 with an unblotted service history and not a spot of rust. He had it about six months before it disappeared from a train station car-park, never to be seen again.
Ouch – that is VERY painful indeed, Robin…
Which model was it?