Took the 'bird out and left it in front of a friend's for a few hours. Someone tried to take the factory AM/FM stereo out of my '69 Firebird. They got the shaft nuts loose, cracked the previously mint dash panel, but the A/C ducts stopped them from succeeding quickly.

They left a $700 stereo which would take about 20 seconds to walk off with alone, so they knew what they were looking for.

Sorry to hear that Vikki. I guess you just can't leave anything unattended anymore. Spoils the fun of taking the car out when you have to worry about it every second when you're not watching it.

Go figure, tops you can get an AM/FM for $300-$350, and they could have yanked a $700 unit. Dumb a$$es. Thieves don't care what they destroy to get their objective. I'd love to find those a$$ holes and cut their fingers off. How badly did they crack the dash?

The plastic behind the knobs is knocked out. And AM/FM stereos are fetching $650 or so now, so they must have known that. I keep the dial on AM so it's not obvious, but the chrome buttons are a giveaway.

I guess I sold my AM/FM way to cheep, but that was a few years ago. Even if they got the radio it wouldn't be stereo without the multiplexer up under the glove box. So if it ever became available we could point fingers. AM/FM mono have the black buttons.

Sorry to hear that. Makes you wonder.... I bet they were close to hauling it away and pillaging. I never leave my Bird unattended. Never.

If I spent all my time the car was out of the garage worrying about what might happen to it, I'd never drive it. I did that the first summer, then got over it. We'd drive it to a hockey game, I'd keep running in and out to see if my car was okay and barely paid attention to the game. Or we'd go out for dinner and I'd have to sit where I could see it, or I'd leave and find another restaurant with an available table overlooking the parking lot. It wasn't a lot of fun driving it so I changed my outlook.

It's insured, so whatever happens would piss me off and cause inconvenience, but financially it wouldn't kill me.

In a neighborhood of half million dollar houses you think it would be okay, there are a lot more valuable cars around the neighborhood.

Sorry to hear about what happened. You're right, if we couldn't drive our car we wouldn't want it. We drive our car every day and we know there is a risk. We just couldn't have a car that we could only look at and not drive.

Sorry to hear that, Vikki.

I still worry about mine when I park it somewhere -- I try to get right up front at a restaurant, and fool myself into thinking that no one would try to steal it (or hack the radio out) in a place where people walk by all the time.

Mine has more than one rust bubble, and I like to think that they're as big a theft deterrent as the alarm is!

You can still drive it and not leave it unattended. I do it a lot. Drove around for 4 hours yesterday. When it was time to go out for dinner we get the other car. I don't want to get out once I'm cruisin' anyway. The way I look at it, the most enjoyment I get is when it's moving. Why park it? I'm not going to use it for general transportation. That would be like wearing your best tennis shoes slopping around in a greasy shop. You will not be happy with the consequences. As you can see from the two recent occurances, a smashed dash and an egged paint job, that a well planned cruise without the car left unattended is the way to go. Unless, of course, you are into insurance claims. You will lose more driving time to down time because you are having vandalism fixed then I will not driving the car to places where you plan on leaving it sit unattended. It's definitely food for thought. I think the classic car insurance companies know about this too. That's why it's so cheap to get insurance for a classic. They know that most people will watch their classic 'pride and joy' like a hawk!

that is why i made it very easy for the crooks.my am/fm cd player is plugged in the dash and it will slide out easy without breaking anything.i also always leave the doors unlocked so they dont have to break my window.the way i see it,if they want it,they are going to get it one way or another.most crooks wont break into my car cause it looks too easy.they figure it is too good to be true,the owner must be watching from a close distance.and sometimes i am,with a loaded .45,12 guage and a 9mm.if that dont get them my .357 magnum may

If you did meet your challenge and shoot someone, just think of all of your cruising time wasted by having to explain away that you shot someone. I think you would be worse off then not shooting someone. Keep in mind it's not going to 'fly' shooting someone who has not put your life in peril. Sounds good but it's definitely not a well thought out move.....

when thieves start getting shot,sooner or later they will think twice before they break into someones house or car.there have been a few down here that tried robbing store owners at gunpoint and they got alot more than cash;they recieved a bunch of lead in them.

Yah. You said they held the store up at gunpoint. That's when you can shoot them. But you can't shoot them when they are stealing your stereo or car unless they point a gun at you.

vikki. i have a unit if you need it. not sure exactly how good it might be in that area but its yours if you want it!

Thanks, Andy, but with the A/C they were unsuccessful at doing any major damage beyond totally trashing the glove box liner. Darn shame too, it was only slightly tattered with age.

I've figured out how to repair the damage, and I'd rather repair it than replace it. I just need to get a set of the radio knobs for balance and fader, mine seem to have walked away...along with the shaft nuts and three of the big screws that hold the top of the dash.

I am glad the damage is not worse. And it gave me a good excuse to pull the dash and install those screw inserts that Tom was kind enough to give me last year.

leave a German Shepheard watching the car...I used to do so in Stockholm, in the 60`s...in my convertible, never got a Parking ticket! (when he was in the open car!)

My [censored] German Shepherd would be begging them to take the car so he could go for a ride.

my son went to meet a girl on the weekend in a nearby city,left his 2004 dodge ram quadcab 4x4 outside her apartment building .when he went to go home he found some jerk keyed a nice deep scratch the length of the truck,ruined his day!some people have no respect for others belongings.

Our very first new car was parked waaaaay at the far end of the lot away from the mall and was keyed front to rear when it was a week old. Ruined my whole week. People are idiots. We were on our way out to dinner tonight when some old fart in a silver import was putzing along at 35 in a 50 and flicked his cigarette out the window right at the 'bird. I had a few words for him.

Vikki I am so sorry about what happened to your car!!! This would be my worst nightmare. But you obviously have a real good, positive sense about you and aren't letting it get to you. Its still a royal f-ing pain, but I too am glad it was not worse. I've been broken into twice at my house and things have been stolen from my car...you feel completely violated. A stranger has been in your personal space, grrr! Keep your chin up there girl!

Niki

I would definitely be up in arms if someone invaded my house. I take my car out in public, but my home is my personal space.

Any good news on your car search?

Vikki sent you a pm!

Vikki said

been there, 25 yrs ago....I felt "raped"....house turned upside down ,wifes jewelry missing, worse part they stole my grandfathers pocketwatch , 1920 Omega, 20 karat gold ,given him from his parish (he was a minister then)...my MC too, tools, MC helmet(but didnt take goggles!??) drank my beer, left refrig open ,so rest of food was spoiled...went to the bathroom , did no 2, used no paper and didnt flush!! YUK!

neighbors saw a black old car with 6 black kids ranging ages 13-16 (they guessed)....they were lucky I didnt come home or saw one ride off on my bike...I would have caused a "traffic accident"!

Yup same here. The second time they just took cash, including my daughter's piggy bank, and a firesafe that held only my kids baby videos (safe and videos were found 1/4 mile down the road). But the first time they took everything including the phones so I could not even call anyone right away. According to the tire tracks, they had watched our house from a spot in the woods near my property. When we left, they took a big truck and backed it up to our door and just started taking stuff out. Luckily they just let our dog out and didn't hurt her. Obviously she was a big softie!

The best part was that because we kept track of serial numbers on our electronics, the cops found the thief 2 months later. We didn't get our stuff back because most was already sold and some held for evidence, however through a stroke of luck, the person who robbed us (along with a neighbor's house down the street on the same day) was hurt in the altercation with police. They needed an xray, and my neighbor (yes the one who was robbed) was the xray tech. Can you imagine the irony??

Had a similar thing happen. Came home in the middle of the afternoon with a couple of neighborhood kids flying out the second story window they broke in. They ran out into my woods. I called all my close neighbors to watch for them to come out. One sees them come out of the woods and jump into their car. The burglers are one of my close neighbors 17 and 19 year old sons. Not really kids now are they? So I call the police and they come over and inspect the scene. Nothing happens that I know of. A week to the day later I see them sneaking up behind my back fence. This fence is 1000 feet from any property lines so it wasn't just casual. I go balistic and chase them out into the woods. They get to their car before I can catch them. Now it is war. They invaded my home and show no signs of backing off. I start a campaign of well thought out actions that I can't admit here due to it may incriminate me. The whole family moves away and are not heard from again.....

Wow, now that is some serious irony to say the least!