Stolen after 1 (!) day ownership - 113 042 10 019072

[pgmm]

I picked up my 1966 USA-imported 230SL on Friday, had it checked for registration in NL (it passed) and parked in Valkenswaard under a car cover awaiting license plates.

On Sundays morning (after less than 2 days and driving about 100 kms) it was gone - no one in the neighbourhood heard anything.

The car is mid blue metallic (I assume it's 396G - colour code says 332G) with beige interior

If you see this car, please let me (or the police) know.

Thanks!

[JamesL]

That really sucks. Good luck finding it!

Some people have no scruples...

[RobMarks]

geez, my heart goes out to you.

Those roof racks make the car very unusal  and easier to spot  for your fellow pagoda owners if they leave them intact

wish you luck with finding it

rob

[Peter van Es]

I recommend approaching all known Pagoda Dealers and shops in the Netherlands and Germany, and pass them the VIN nr. Check all adverts on ebay and Marktplaats.

In all likelihood it will be out of the country already.

This is real tough! Gecondoleerd.

Peter

[pgmm]

Thanks all for your support! I had never expected this to be my first post on the forum (I joined the Group when a purchased my car on eBay a couple of weeks ago).

It is quite an unusual colour for a 230SL and the roofrack is special indeed, so I fear that she will be taken apart and sold in parts (probably from Belgium, that's a 10 minutes drive from Valkenswaard where the car was stolen).

I will certainly be monitoring eBay and Marktplaats in the coming months and hope you all can keep an eye out as well.
Thanks.

[Eryck]

Sorry to hear about your bad luck.  And these cars are not exactly difficult to break in....what do you do.....hope you find it eventually. 

[pablo_o2]

That's really sad, I'll keep an eye open here in Belgium. One never knows, maybe they try to sell it here for export!

[ctm14]

  So Sad,

   Pagoda lovers are a tight knitt group.  We all feel your pain and will be on the look out should it hit the market you will be the first to know. 

Sorry

[pgmm]

I do really appreciate your support - let's keep as many eyes open as possible and hope the car turns up in one piece sooner or later.

There seems to be a European car registration system Eucaris that should prevent re-registration of a stolen car in the EU. I will ask the police in a few weeks time to check the status of my VIN in that system.

I do have lots of pictures to be able to prove it's my car, but if sold in parts... I don't want to think about that!

[glenn]

Hi,  Did that car come from the Charlotte/Denver North Carolina area?

[pgmm]

No Glenn, I got my car from Mount Pleasant in South Carolina.

Found the car on eBay, had a car inspection done by CarChex (lousy and expensive - do NOT use them: among others they failed to report that the second gear synchromesh is complete worn out and that the parkingbrake is not working).

Had the car shipped from Charleston SC to Rotterdam Netherlands (3 weeks waiting in dock and 3 weeks travel across the Atlantic).

[glenn]

Bill Browning and Mike Corea(sp)?  Don Hemphill??  Charlotte is on South Carolina border.

[pgmm]

Soory Glenn, I don't understand what you are trying to say.

I bought the car from a guy called Mike Atkins in Mount Pleasant, some 2 miles from Charleston harbour where my car left the USA. Mike had bought the car from a relative of his who owned it 25+ years after buying it in Germany in 1980. I have a nice set of documents, including the original German "Kraftfahrzeugbrief" (car registration / title / from 1966-1980).