Could I get in trouble for taking it?

Well I was looking at another non car web site and there was a mention of really old cars sitting somewhere not that far from me. They are on public owned land, but in a ghost town that I had not heard about. It's not a national park, but I still don't know what kind of land and if the road is open. It's a long dirt road off of a long dirt road. If not, I know I can get to it by boat which would actually be quicker. No mention of what the cars are, but the mine closed down in the 20's. I'm a pussy when it comes to doing bad things, so ease my little mind.

 

well techinally yes,title conveys ownership. no title no way to prove ownership.but how brave are you.

 

First you need to determine whether they are even of any interest or use to you. If you decide that you would like to have them, possibly you could offer to "donate" your time to clean-up the park ???

Of course, if the park rangers say "no thanks" and you go back and yank them out without permission, you could get in trouble. How much trouble, is the question. I suppose if you were forced to explain the situation to a judge, you could plead ignorance and say you thought that since they were on publicly owned land, you assumed that nobody wanted them.

 

they are mine, I was planning to restore them once my back heals

 

I don't think there are park rangers, but maybe sheriffs. I'll pass a lot of private land to get there. I heard there are cars on the private land too, but this is redneck country and they tend to shoot first.

One way or another I'm gonna try to go there. If for nothing else but to photograph the buildings. I've got plenty of cameras and film.

 

Most land that isn't owned by someone has been reclaimed by the BLM. The BLM is a Federal Agency called the Bureau of Land Management. If these vehicles are on BLM land they belong there. If you know the name of the mining company you might try to contact the caretaker of the property if it hasn't been turned back to BLM. Sometimes they allow cleanup operations. If you clean up a section of the property then you are responsible for disposing of the refuse. hmmmm

 

Have something to explain why you are out there. Make-up a work order to check on mineral cliams, or some such. Bring a handheld GPS. Dress like a state worker, and also bring a hard hat.

That way they won't just kill you right away, because they think someone might come looking for the body.

 

sounds like you have done this before.


Purple, I say you go for it.

 

I own like 40 cars and only have titles for three that I drove on the road. That total includes three others I also registered and drove at various times. Having a title doesn't mean anything.

Here is your problem - are you prepared to go in and clean up say 40 old cars? You could probably make enough money selling what you didn't want, to build one you did want, unless they're all total shit - but even then you may find good parts and bodies solid enough to cut patch panels out of. But not everyone can do that. My guess is unless someone tells you they don't care, you may have to cut a deal to clean up everything, to get that one you want. That wouldn't bother me a bit, I'd just haul them home 2-3 at a time and post 'em on eBay the same night. You, on the other hand, may have neighbors that would bitch.

 

I think I saw it on the Rockford Files, or some TV show

 

Just go pick out the one you want and drag it up on the trailer/wrecker- and if anyone asks what you're doing, tell 'em your grandpa's car broke down... 60 years ago... and you're just picking it up for him

What's the policy with abandoned vehicles there? Around here they get put on damn public auction- so you gotta outbid everyone if you found it, turned it in, and want to keep it.

Nooj

 

I ditched a carload of jerks that were following me once years ago using a technique I saw on Rockford. I drove into the police station and stopped in front of the door. Some of that stuff does work -

 

you say they are on public land, i happen to be a part of the public, so i own those cars, no? i say leave em. if they are part of a ghost town, then they are part of the ghost town as much as the old buildings are. you said you'd go there just to take pictures of the buildings, would you consider taking part of the buildings of a historic ghost town so you could have some authentic "barn boards" for your den?

i enjoy hunting down and visiting ghost towns, it'd be nice if every single one wasn't pillaged of every single piece that may have any value or completely destroyed. i'm all for "saving" cars, but one needs to determine if you are really saving a car, or just looking to flip it for a buck while removing an artifact of american history from public land. my comments on this are taking into consideration the descriptions of the situation..."public land", "ghost town" etc. my opinion would certainly be different if it were a car abandoned in some remote woods or something.

 

g'day
first stand up like a man and find some old tin!
guys the first thing to do would be to actually go and have a look and see whats there- find out the caretakers name and call them, most of all have a reason to be there even if it is bullcrap, beleive me telling the truth is often the easyest! you said that the mine closed down in the 20's, if the main source of income left the town the people would leave so you may be left with only cars up 1925 or 1930. mate just get ya bun in gear and go and check it out! take a camera and most of all post pics on the hamb!

tyler

 

Ditto to what Tyler said!!!

 

Take the boat if it's easiest. Probably less people to see you going somewhere. Bring a rod and wet a line, no suspicion in that. Then just stop for a shore lunch and wander around with your camera
Once you've seen if there's anything worth the trouble, then look into finding the caretaker or whatever.

Flatman

 

Don't forget, we want to see pictures and soon.

Neal

 

dont just ouright take it..you could be in for some real trouble..covertly check into who ownes the land..if it is in-fact "public" as you say..you may have a bigger issue.

 

One thing i use to tell land owners when i was hunting & they would say" come onto my property & you'll get shot" is "point a gun at me & i'll shoot you!!" contrary to what people thing unless someone is breaking into your house you can't shoot or even threaten anyone with a gun!!
so the solution is take a gun in with ya!!lol
As a matter of fact a guy & his son where arrested in RI for telling a hunting they where gonna shot them.Protto call is to call the game wardens & have them oust the people.
This isn't Dodge city!!lol
JimV

 

A friend of mine once found a "treasure" on "public" land. After he investigated he foun dout that a city actually owned the property. After some phone calls he got ahold of someone in authority who then SOLD him the "treasure" for 1 dollar.

He was now the rightful owner - he had a bill of sale - no worries about getting in any trouble when he removed his item.

 

that's how Arizona state gov't sees things, too. A friend is a volunteer at a local state park that is the site of a ghost town....she says they're pretty strict about it

 

Google earth .....find it if you know approximately where they are. get the co-ordinates and find out who owns the land. Proceed from there. Either that or just go lookin!!!

 

sounds like you already know what you're thinking about doing is wrong. nothing is free and things that sound too good to be true are.
i realize out west things are a little different or maybe a lot different however around here somebody owns everything and public lands belong to the local or federal government. going out and taking what you wanted would probably get you a little jail time or shot. keep in mind people that threaten harm aren't the ones that will do harm.

 

Well, I was gonna stay out of this but.........there are a couple of things that kind of bother me. Since I was raised in a rural area, on a farm, and have been dealing with folks coming on my families land and taking "abandoned" stuff for 50 years, I might have a little different attitude about things than some other folks here. I'm not real happy about folks taking stuff my family has owned and used since the turn of the century, just because the think it's abandoned and no one will care. I'm also not happy with folks coming on private property and destroying crops, roads, waterlines, etc. just to see what's on the backside of the property.

There was an old guy that lived about 5 miles from us. He gathered up everything he could in the 50's and 60's and stored the stuff in his shelterbelt. He had old cars, tractors, equipment. Some people thought it was all "abandoned" and every once in a while someone would go in to get something. He lost a Packard about 20 years ago, turned it in as stolen and his family got it back completely restored about 5 years ago when it "red flagged" as stolen during a sale. He cut tires on trucks and trailers that were parked at the site and NEVER got in trouble for it. Some members of the sheriffs department in the next town over heard about the stuff and about 6 or 7 of them came to have a look. They lost their jobs over the deal. It's not really worth trying to get something for nothing.

And any kind of government land seems to be even more serious than private property.

And as far as the "No guns" deal, you might goggle Stand Your Ground laws.

 

Just write you up a fake bill of sale and go get them one at a time. If anyone ask, just tell them that you bought them off of a old fella and teh car had belong to his late dad...god rest his soul

 

I have a 1947 Mercury that I bought in 1967.
All 46-48 Mercurys had 16" wheels.
15" wheels werent available until 1949 or1950 and those were about 4 1/2". I have some of those

 

You can only get in trouble if you get caught!

 

Somebody owns everything. If an individual doesn't the gvt does.

 

Here in Oklahoma, you only get about 10 years for killing someone on your land, so most land owners are willing to take a vacation for that long. With good conduct you can be out in 4 years, and you won't have to pay rent, or buy groceries the whole time.

There's one guy who got 25 years, but he shotgunned a contractor for a Federal agency who was moving his fence off of public land.

 

Agreed. I'd take them if I could use them.