Date: Tue, 09 Jul 1996 08:36:48
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: EXPRES@gnn.com (RON SALMON)
Subject: My bus parts Stolen!!
Just received word that 2 or more people gained access to where my
2 '63 parts busses were (along with several other splitties) and
stripped them all.
The busses were behind an acquaintence's mother's house, way out in
the middle of the woods, along with four other parts splitties that
belonged to him. Apparently someone (who must have been there
before, since you'd never find this place by chance) convinced his
elderly mother that they know him, and proceeded to spend ALL DAY
totally stripping every one of his and my busses. I mean
EVERYTHING - they cut out metal corner panels, removed all glass,
jacked up busses, removed bumpers, pulled steering wheels, etc.
Took everything but engines and trannies. These people clearly had
splitties and were in the splittie parts business. They knew just
what to take.
My friend lost a ton of stuff. A couple of his busses were still
relatively complete. I was luckier, in that I had already removed
about 80% of what I needed from my '63's. However, both had almost
mint steering wheels which I had been so far unable to remove. The
thieves took one and destroyed the other trying to remove it. They
also took all of the glass (except for the corner windows, which I
had removed), destroyed a mint door panel trying to remove the
window channel, chiseled out body parts, etc. etc.
This is a real letdown because much of what was taken was to go in
my running '63 deluxe. I am unlikely to find another '63 parts bus
in this area. Moreover, I am furious because the thieves were
clearly VW "enthusiasts." I know my parts will turn up at the
local VW swap meets, etc., but it will be impossible to tell or
prove if they are mine.
This is the second time that a VW bus owner has stolen parts from
my '63. Once before, when a local VW shop had my bus overnight,
someone opened the then-unlockable door and removed one jailbar, a
turn signal lever, two jailbar mounts, an ambulance fan, etc. etc.
One jailbar? Come on! Tell me this guy wasn't taking parts that
he needed on his own pre-64 Deluxe! Somehow, I take that more
personally than if the thief were just a generic "car thief." You
meet so many fellow VW enthusiasts who are really nice people, that
you tend to forget that there are scum among any crowd.
I tend to be a trusting person. But now I find myself thinking of
the relatively few people who knew where these busses were, and
wondering which of them might have stolen from me, or passed the
location on to a cohort who stole from me. It's not a good feeling
knowing that there is a thief in your midst.
Anyway, on the outside chance that anyone here on the east coast
hears of someone who suddenly came into a ton of splittie parts to
sell, under unknown circumstances, please let me know.
Oh well, easy come, easy go, I guess...
Ron Salmon
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