Ok, so this warning about various municipalities putting modified cars into the crusher may be only tangentially relevant to owners of Japanese classics, seeing as how many of our cars are not even capable of breaking the speed limit (or even leaving the driveway, for that matter). Still, for those of you rolling old school with a 4AG or SR20 swap, we offer this public service announcement.
Last week, police from inland So-Cal counties crushed six modified cars used for allegedly containing stolen parts. In the LA Times example, Charles Hoang had the receipts to the transmission of his 350hp ’94 Integra, but the fuzz deemed it stolen and examples had to be made, so Hoang’s car was scrapyarded. Ontario (that’s CA (which means California)) Police Cpl. Jeff Higgins and clever punner says, “We’re making a dent” in street racing activity. According to the article this amounts to a roundabout attempt to curb racing, because such cars are run hard, which means they need more frequent repairs, which will more likely result in the use of stolen parts. Rube Goldberg, eat your heart out.
Not to be outdone, Ontario (Canada, this time) Attorney General Michael Bryant has warned that just plain modifying a car with speed parts is cause for a crushing, says the Toronto Star. We’ve heard Canada was socialist, but come on! Says Bryant: “Just on the balance of probabilities if we can establish that a car is being used for the unlawful purpose of street racing, we will seize it and you will never see it again,” which means that if your car even looks like it could be used for illegal racing, it’s toast. He even likened speed shops to bomb factories. Yes folks, fear of death by bomb is the new Nazi comparison.
Source [autoblog.com]
