Caravan thieves get slice of history

A classic racing car linked to Britain’s Great Train Robbery has been stolen in a rather less sensational minor caravan heist.

The 1962 Brabham BT2 was being stored inside a modified caravan at owner John Rapley’s property in Paraparaumu Beach, north of Wellington.

Some time between Saturday night and yesterday morning, thieves cut through a chain tying the caravan to a fence and drove it away.

Rapley suspects they weren’t even aware the car was inside – and now he’s pleading with them not to destroy a piece of motoring history.

The car has a top speed of about 200kmh, and there was strong evidence its chassis was the one driven by Kiwi Formula One driver Denny Hulme to set a lap record at British race track Brands Hatch in 1962, Rapley said.

It was bought in 1963 by Roy ‘‘The Weasel’’ James, the getaway driver for the Great Train Robbers, who stole £2.6 million (equivalent to about NZ$85m today) from a Royal Mail train that same year.

James was captured in December 1963, and served 12 years in jail.

Rapley said he was home all day on Sunday, but did not see the caravan go missing from the road outside. ’’I walked out [on Monday] and it wasn’t there in the morning.’’

He said the only thing left behind was a cut chain, hanging on the fence, and tyre prints on the nearby berm.

There were a handful of Brabhams in New Zealand, he said, and his was probably the only BT2.

It might be worth up to $100,000, but would be almost impossible to sell. Any expert around the world who saw it would ask, ‘‘Why isn’t that in John Rapley’s shed?’’

He urged the thieves to drop it off at a car park, or a service station, ‘‘and then go hide again’’.

A police spokeswoman confirmed the theft had been reported, ‘‘and inquiries are ongoing’’.