I Renault that car
Motoring enthusiast sees parts from classic stripped by a thief 19 YEARS AGO for sale on Facebook page
Picture: JOHN GLADWIN A CAR enthusiast reckons he has found missing parts off his beloved Renault 5 Turbo on Facebook… 19 years after they were stolen.
Phil Abiodum spent months “pimping up” his Phase 1 model, but was left with just the shell when a rogue garage worker secretly stripped it down.
But Phil has never forgotten the work he did on the vehicle in 1999, including custom modifications.
And he was stunned when he spotted the car’s bonnet for sale on a Renault specialist’s page on the social networking site.
Phil then realised other parts that were up for sale – together worth £1,000 – were also ones he modified.
Dad-of-one Phil said: “At the time the car was worth about £1,500. Now
it would be a collector’s item, worth about £12,000.
“I’d taken it to the garage to be spraypainted. I wasn’t in any rush to get it back, I was working on other cars too.
“But after a couple of months I called to see what was going on. I couldn’t get a straight answer so I went down to see the lad who’d been painting it.
“They told me he’d left. We went round the back – and what was left of my car was there. It was just a shell with bits of the engine still on it. I was gutted. Someone had had a free-for-all.”
Police made a report but were unable to come up with any leads.
But as Phil left the garage in Stockport, Greater Manchester, he noticed another Renault 5 on a nearby forecourt.
He said: “As I rode past I spotted the clocks on the dashboard. They were bright white, limited edition… they were mine. I went in and asked whose it was.
“They told me they’d bought them in good faith from the lad who had disappeared from the other place.
“They had my bumpers too. He’d been selling it in bits before doing a vanishing act.”
Phil, 41, managed to retrieve those parts but gave up hope of getting the rest back. But he hung on to the stripped car in The back of Phil’s car, left, and the ad on Facebook the hope of restoring it one day. He explained: “It’s what I do, I buy damaged vehicles, fix them up and sell them on.
“I went on this page for Renault enthusiasts and couldn’t believe it when I saw my bonnet.
“I knew it straight away, it was unique. I’d cut two little vents into it. It had looked amazing, in pearl white.
“Someone’s done a bad spray job on it, in black – but I knew it was mine.
“Other bits on there were mine too. Wheel arches and trims, and the boot spoiler, were all from my old Renault 5.”
Phil tracked the seller and contacted police, but believes they have not taken him seriously. He said: “I don’t believe the seller has done anything wrong – they were taken 19 years ago. They could’ve been sold on several times.
“But they’re stolen goods, no matter how long ago it was. Those parts are definitely mine – and I’d like them back.”