Page 1 of 4 123 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 39

Thread: to embezzle an engine - the strangeness of disappearing units

  1. #1
    Senior Member haul's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Location
    bavaria
    Posts
    2,327

    to embezzle an engine - the strangeness of disappearing units

    To Tell A STORY OF AIRCOOLED BUSINESS
    Or
    How my engine got lost in a workshop in Swabia


    When my slategray 65 got home after the extended summer holiday and thousands of miles on the roof rack, she felt tired and was really happy to get the cooler autumn breeze around its air filter. I told my love, well, it seems we might need some rework on the engine to surely make the next 100thousand of miles. Over the winter I looked for alternatives and possible shop recommendations. It turned out, the waiting line for a rework was about one year, so the next season was a sure miss.

    While turning newspapers, online offers, telephone calls, I got a note from a friend, who told me, that a senior Porsche sales guy, formerly living in Düsseldorf, had retired and now lives back in his hometown in the black forest. He was already in his 80ies and he knew of him selling the rest of his collected cars, his left over spare parts, and, he had an early 65 engine in his shelf.

    As I had a meeting in Strassbourg the following days, I could reroute and had a very pleasant meeting with the old gentleman. A car guy from former times, testing your knowledge, checking how deep is the water on the buyers side. He finally showed me his left over 616/36 engine, euro heater, june 65 built , intended for being used with one of his 356.

    It was a key-turn ready complete unit, with engine tins, correct Solex carbs, linkages, Knecht airfilters, euro heat exchangers, muffler. Plug & play.

    The engine looked clean, the solex carbs fresh, no dirt of extensive usage, supposed to have clocked about 900 km. The negociations turned out with fairly no possibillity to deal on the price, but rather on getting some add-on parts out of his shelf.

    Some 30 km of this location is a known aircooled workshop, at that time nearby newly built on the green lawn, in the outskirt of a small Swabian town, not far from Stuttgart. We knew the owners, the children, the workshop, as the ESR rally had a visit there, and we were all happy and in good mood to stay over for some hours, getting served some refreshments. So my first approach was, to give them a call and ask them, if they could do a hot swap with the engines: I come with my 65, bring the “plug&play” engine 2 hours later and they do have one week time to get the engines swapped, set up the carbs and get the slategray rolling again.

    Of course and happily they agreed to the deal.

    The day came, the 22nd of June, action day. All went smooth and nicely, sunny weather, not too hot, everything as easy as wished might be. The 29th I picked up my slategray in decent running condition, but as it turned out later, the Solex P40II had not been reworked, so the central shaft had some play, which made it nearly impossible to set them up correctly. Nevertheless, it ran, the engine had perfect pressure …so off we drove in the sunset.

    It was agreed, that the tired “hot swopped” engine would come into storage, as there was plenty of space and to lift the engine on the roof rack was not an option. So the complete unit, with all the components attached, was put again on a euro palette and safely stored.

    The next spring, Corona already made its way. I had telephoned before in order to ask, if everything was ok, if I should take my old engine unit out of storage, if they do need the space. I met them at the Stuttgart fair, where they had a booth, talking, exchanging nice words, compliments to the choice of cars. Also there: are any troubles, no, all fine, we do have your number to call you, if anything would happen.

    Due to Corona there had been all the registrations, the lockdowns, the prohibition to drive privately around, so there had been merely not the right time to pick up the engine. Stay safe at home, had been the motto of these times.

    I cleaned up, sorted all the stuff out, like we all did, made space for the unit to be picked up.
    This Monday I gave them an early morning call, that I would drop by Tuesday morning in order to finally pick up the engine. It is a three hour drive to their place.

    The secretary was some kind of strange and the owner of the workshop said he can not remember, but finally admitted: yes, true, ya….I´ll look for it. I called back 20 minutes later and reported the engine number to them:”…just in case….”. I do not get a return phone call the complete afternoon and at 1730 I thought, well, and rang through.

    I got the shop owner on the phone, who said: “I cannot find your engine… we do have a 912 engine in the storage, but this is not yours, with different carbs and else.” My reply was quite amused, the storage is not that large, the engine unit not that small, to get lost in between some sheet metal. “I ll give sou a call tomorrow, let me check again!”

    The next morning at 0900 the expected call came, but still, nothing to be found anywhere in the workshop. He would call the lady in charge, “…..she is in maternity holiday, but she knows everything about it…..we did reorganize the storage …”…Again, a complete engine unit does not disappear, unless…….?

    Wednesday I gave him time to think over it, to ask everyone involved, to work out on a solution plan. Today, after my 2nd morning coffee, I gave him a call. Again the irrated secretary and on the line: a slightly nervous and aggressive shop owner, who started right away with frontal attack: it is not his fault, he is not to blame, he was always against it, to store the engine!!!! The mechanics told him, that I had picked up the engine!!!
    I am now trying to make a profit out of the situation! He is not the one to be sued.!!
    “what do you want now?”

    I expected this reaction, as it was obvious from Monday, that anything had been in total disorder. The engine has disappeared out of the storage.

    I urged him to find a way, any way, as he knows the whole week about the situation. I told him, that I expect him to make any suggestion, how to compensate about the loss. The easiest would be just to find the engine.

    How to find a solution now? The shop owner was in such denial, that he could not think solution orientated, he was in complete regression of facts and lost in his “static behaviour mechanism”.

    What would you suggest now to do?
    Bring in lawyers, go to court….?
    Go check on site, search in the storage?
    How would you value the “lost engine”, complete, running, but tired.
    With all engine tins, Weber carbs, heat exchangers, muffler…
    This was the engine that came with the car…is there any evaluation of value loss for the car?

    Remember the story which took place in Switzerland….the guy in Aachen,
    The mass betrayal, fake cars, swap of engines, parts, certifications of well knows race drivers…


    br
    haul
    59 750 pre unit triton
    63 650 gray silver bikinitub triumph thunderbird
    70 650 astralred silver triumph bonneville
    65 912 slate gray "erwin"
    73 914 ravennagreen "ferdl"
    erwin_loves_polo

  2. #2
    Midnight Runner popowitz's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    West LA
    Posts
    1,003
    Definitely get legal counsel and the lost value of the car should be added to the lost engine. Neither is as valuable apart as together. I'm truly sorry for your troubles.
    Registry Member #1583
    '73 911 S Aubergine (VIN#9113301295)

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by popowitz View Post
    Definitely get legal counsel and the lost value of the car should be added to the lost engine. Neither is as valuable apart as together. I'm truly sorry for your troubles.
    I agree get legal help and find out where your engine went. With legal pressure I expect them to remember what happened, it’s a relatively short period. Last resource is posting your engine number and or asking who bought a 912 engine from them in the last year?

    I hope you find it.

    Richard
    searching for engine (case) 903742

  4. #4
    Senior Member haul's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Location
    bavaria
    Posts
    2,327
    update - 1 -


    i called late afternoon, 15 minutes before shop closure. at least he took the call, but immediately started again to act strange-he feels intimidated by me, I would threaten him with my phone calls - he will not accept this! I do come now after two years and want my engine back! he takes every time now he needs to clear the situation! he will not get pressured by me!!
    If I want to sue him, he will sue me too, because I blackmail and threaten him.

    I again tried to calm him, as he got more and more erratic, as if he was playing in front of a crowd!! he wanted to justify himself and trying to turn me into be the agressor! claims and falsifications!

    My wife did listen as a witness.

    I went straight into: „I dont think that you have anything to hide, so it might be worth an attempt to come on your site and look in your storage. Maybe we both will find it. Could this be a possible solution? That we both look and search?“

    He agreed to a date on site on next monday morning…
    59 750 pre unit triton
    63 650 gray silver bikinitub triumph thunderbird
    70 650 astralred silver triumph bonneville
    65 912 slate gray "erwin"
    73 914 ravennagreen "ferdl"
    erwin_loves_polo

  5. #5
    Senior Member uai's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Horb a.N. Germany
    Posts
    2,556
    If you find the engine - give me a call I could leave homeoffice at 17:00 hrs and pick it up - then you know at least where it is. I wouldn't leave it there if you find it.

  6. #6
    Senior Member 9er's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    Adelaide Australia
    Posts
    831
    The visit on Monday morning where you will hopefully be able to calmly discuss face to face and get an explanation and then a resolution.

    I hope it all goes well.

  7. #7
    Is the missing engine original to your car?

    ---Adam
    If you're reading this and you are not yet an Early 911S Registry member, Join Now!
    Early 911S Registry Member 1372
    Check out Unobtanium-Inc.com
    New blog posts all the time!

  8. #8
    Senior Member haul's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Location
    bavaria
    Posts
    2,327
    update - 2 -

    me and my pal, who had been with me the very first time, drove this morning to the workshop. we arrived in time as agreed. The shop owner welcomed us and immediately got up, accompanied us from the showroom to the workshop. there he started a lengthy explanation why he did not like to be pressed, he had the feeing I am trying to betray him, I had already picked up the engine and now try to make a profit out of it. He came up with “agreed had been two weeks storage time”, which I had to disagree at once, as he knew I was off for more than one month after I picked up my car back then. My pal immediately chimed in: if it would have been a problem with storage, you do have his phone number, email, postal address and could send him the engine with a forwarder company “ad hoc” on his expenses. So what happened?

    He then showed us around, the engine prep room - one 11 engine, some parts, the 2nd workshop area, four engines in shelf, one 912 engine….he looked at the engines and then he said: ”… look, we did had your engine marked with a tape and your name written on it, and an extra tag on it: will be picked up! Like this one over here!” and pointed towards one of the engines. So he clearly remembered, and on questioning also from which dealer I got the engine and who rebuilt the engine. He remembered everything quite crisp and spontaneous answered.

    The engine was neither at the first location, nor and the second storage facility. There had been parts, hoods, rims, tires, all other stuff, but not the euro palette with the engine on it.

    He tried again to tend to, that I already had picked up the engine, but also recognized, that there are not too much engines (5) and engines are not his core business. “So one unit missing would be obvious” my pal said. I told him I am not interested in the money, I do need the engine! That´s what I care, as I thought his workshop is a safe heaven for “my ol´unit”.

    I then told him, how superb his workshop is, how lucky he can be, to have such a lot of work during this pandemic, that his clients are so faithful. The business with vintage cars being stable, the 356 market being still high . . . and then he started, oh yes, true , hmm, the earlies are more relaxed with the price than 2 years ago, but for complete restos you do have to calculate an initial loss on resale, as the prices are no more valid on the market. The 356, yeah, its more stable, and true, sometimes a 616/36 casing is nice to have for a 356. There had been one client, with a nice 356, we did service and else and he was happy, but after he picked up his car, he gave us a phone call, stating, this is the wrong engine in my car. The original restorer never would have installed a converted industrial engine …where is my engine…the dispute ended in the workshop building an engine to the customer, as they could not proof which engine the car came with! After two month the original restorer gave them a call…”Hey, I do have his engine, all fine, relax!” “You can pick up your spare rebuilt engine…..”

    OK, nice sideline….but still my engine nowhere to be seen.

    I asked him about his plans and how he wants to proceed now…
    “I need to check all the papers and invoices, it must be anywhere….”
    “How long do you need for this to deliver a result?”

    My pal just stated: ” You want us to see you are successful in the premium market segment, so act like it!” He told him, that it is not acceptable by any means to see this kind of escalation management, in which the customer is made responsible for faults of the company. "This is not a traders market place! In any case you are the CEO and have to take responsibility.”

    We agreed on two weeks grace period

    So the “follow – up “ will be the 24th …..
    59 750 pre unit triton
    63 650 gray silver bikinitub triumph thunderbird
    70 650 astralred silver triumph bonneville
    65 912 slate gray "erwin"
    73 914 ravennagreen "ferdl"
    erwin_loves_polo

  9. #9
    Senior Member JT912's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Eugene, OR
    Posts
    946
    Has Motormeister relocated to Europe?
    John Thompson

    1966 912. My first car. Bought it Nov. 25, 1988. Still have it.

  10. #10
    Midnight Runner popowitz's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    West LA
    Posts
    1,003
    He has thus far made no effort to take responsibility for the missing engine nor made efforts to resolve the situation. He has only been defensive. As such, there is little reason to believe that he will act to resolve the issue to your satisfaction in two weeks. I would recommend that you use the 2 weeks to identify legal counsel. If he turns it around then you have lost nothing. Good luck.
    Registry Member #1583
    '73 911 S Aubergine (VIN#9113301295)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

Message Board Disclaimer and Terms of Use
This is a public forum. Messages posted here can be viewed by the public. The Early 911S Registry is not responsible for messages posted in its online forums, and any message will express the views of the author and not the Early 911S Registry. Use of online forums shall constitute the agreement of the user not to post anything of religious or political content, false and defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise to violate the law and the further agreement of the user to be solely responsible for and hold the Early 911S Registry harmless in the event of any claim based on their message. Any viewer who finds a message objectionable should contact us immediately by email. The Early 911S Registry has the ability to remove objectionable messages and we will make every effort to do so, within a reasonable time frame, if we determine that removal is necessary.