The car was recovered here is the story as told by John Jones in the club
newsletter.
John Jones writes:
What gives you that horrible sick feelingin the pit of you stomach? Th Bos
calling you into his office on Friday afternoon and telling you to close the
door; a call from your teenager late at night, long after they were supposed
to be home.
Well, I can say that I have experienced them all but perhaps the worst
happened Monday night after Auto Fair. I left town that morning and got a
frantic call from Ann, after she got home from work and running errands, that
our house had been broken into some time during the day. As she was walked
through the house with the cordless trying to determine what was missing, she
walked outside to check the shop when she realized "THE HEALEY WAS GONE". I
am not sure which was worse, the idea that some low life was in possession of
something that means so much to not only me but the entire family or the
frantic sounds of Ann while I was six hours away. Let's see how to explain
the feeling, a child only took nine months from conception to birth, Healey
takes five and a half years worth of non-stop weekends and four subsequent
years of pleasure for not only Ann and me but also for the kids, including
future daughter-in-law. My worst thought was that it was the work of a pro
and the car was in a trailer and was being spirtited away and that the
break-in was a ruse because they actually took very little leaving much more
of value than they took. Ann called John May who put a notice on the AHCA web
pagewhile she was still on the phone, and I started calling Natinal members
to get the word out. Fortunately the Sherriff found the car right around the
corner while on the way to the house. Evidently the slobe were actually young
low-lifes. They found the keys on my dresser but didn't seem to have an
understanding of the concept of a manual choke and a starter button because
they left the key on but were pushing it with another car trying to start it.
It appears the daage is limited to a bent front bumper where they pushed it
into a ditch and the bent rear bumper and slightly damaged rear shroud from
the push.
What kind of advice can I give you? I don't have a locked garage with an
alarm(yet). Turn off the battery switch and lock the boot(I hadn't)? In
reality the pro is going to be armed with a trailer or rollback and the slob
doesn't even know what to do even when he has the key. In the fairly short
time between when Ann and I started calling local and national club members
to alert them until we found out thet the Sheriff found the car it was
amazing how many additional people had been called. Ann says she received
over 20 emails in response to the "very short" time that John May had the
notice on the web page. Don't ever think that your club membership is not
worth it, this is truly a Family.
Please come out and visit with the family soon.
---John Jones
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