Break in at Sue Miller's

[alaric]

Hi all.

Just phoned Sue to order some parts and the police are there as she's had a break in over the weekend. Apparently a chassis went amongst many other parts for the baby elan.

There can only be a limited market for those parts... can I suggest that we are careful where we are buying from - not sure what can be done to help.

Sean.

[cliveyboy]

Some one must have been expecting her to be at Donington.
(Although we all knew she wasnt attending this year)

Clive

[r.agnew]

I collected an elan chassis from Spyder late Saturday after Donington & drove all the way from Peterborough to Holyhead on Sunday with it on the roof rack. I must have been caught on a zillion CCTV cameras. The old bill will no doubt have my number by now, I'll be expecting to have my collar felt soon. Good job Andy gave me a receipt! On another tack, I too was disappointed by the show this year, not enough of "our" type of car, especially outside in the car parks. Some years there has been more of interest outside than inside(nearly).

[types26/36]

Just had this email from Mattys listing the parts stolen:

=============================================

Sue Miller has been broken into over the weekend whild she was at the Lotus Show at Donnington.

The thieves only took Lotus Baby Elan bits... A list to follow...

Please be aware of the following items and if you are offered them at stupid prices or if you are suspicious about them, please contact Sue on 0044 (0)1728 603307

Parts stolen:
5 x heads
1 x engine
Dashboards
1 x new Galv Chassis
Wheel bearings
Wishbones
Windscreens

Lets do our best to catch these reprobates

Best regards Twiz

Regards,
The Paul Matty Sports Cars Web Forum team

[steveww]

Keep an eye on flea bay

[trw99]

Have just sent Susan a note.

The really troubling thought is that it must be someone who knows Elans (or a team of crooks commissioned by someone who does). Seems really wrong, doesn't it?

Will watch out for these items.

Tim

[trw99]

Have had a reply from Susan Miller. There may be more that was stolen. She says that she keeps finding empty spaces.

Apart from the engines, chassis and cylinder heads, Susan reckons the thieving bar-stewards knew what to take. As a result, she believes that someone is restoring two or more Elans, probably DHC Sprints, as they took two hoods and the box of Sprint decals. Or I suppose it could be someone wanting to make up an Elan as a Sprint.

Keep your eyes peeled!

Tim

[miked]

Lower than a snakes belly. Shocked. I am sure these will turn up!


Mike

[elansprint71]

They must have used a van for that lot, whilst Sue's place is sort of remote, it is on a main(ish) road with the business unit in full view of passers by; hopefully someone will have noticed the vehicle.
If that stuff does go on e-bay, it should not be too difficult to spot.

Bastards.

[RotoFlexible]

Anyone know if Susan has numbers for the chassis, heads and engine? If so, they should be posted here and elsewhere. (Does ebay have a stolen items registry?)

I made my first, modest purchase from Susan recently, all via e-mail but very pleasant and professional. It's a shame this has happened to her.

[Susan]

Hello Elan owners,
This is to thank everyone for their kind messages of sympathy after my burglary. I am still in shock and have not yet finished a total inventory of the missing parts.I do not believe too much will turn up on e-bay: though they did take whole boxes of lamps, wheel spinners, coils, spark plugs etc.,etc.,this really looked like shopping to order and , except for the engines and cylinder heads,I believe most of the parts will go on restorations, either imminent or in progress. Someone really knows his Elans- hardly any Plus Two stuff was taken.This is someone in, or on the fringes of, the trade,and it saddens me to think that it may be someone I have conversed with,entertained here, and for whom I have probably made tea.I think the police may be watching any newly-restored DHC Sprints in the near future, just in case. Some of the parts will be definitely identifiable as mine.
It is heartening that so many people out there are thinking of me- my faith in human nature is still intact.
Best wishes to you ( nearly ) all
Susan Miller

[trw99]

Susan

Welcome to the forum and thank you for giving us this update. I am sure I speak for all of us when we wish you better fortune. Let's hope that at least some of the goods stolen from you can be recovered. Let's hope even more that the thieving idiot/s are bought to justice.

Tim

[Pastapesto]

Hello all

This really shocked me as I'm sure it did to everyone else. As anyone who has ever dealt with Susan will know, she is always very helpful, knowledgeable & professional, in fact she is a real pleasure to deal with.

I keep wondering how we could help but apart from keeping an eye open for these parts, all I can think of is suggesting that if you have never tried Susan, now is the time to give her a try. You will not be disappointed.

Personally with my restoration plodding along, I will try & order some of the later stage stuff such as Carpets, Seat Belts, trim & badges, headlight fitting kits etc. (all the stuff that I do not need yet but will need from Susan later this year). I hope that if anyone else could do this also, it may help her a little as although Susan is one of the smaller suppliers
of lotus bits, she is by far the very best and it is at times like this when
we should rally round with a little bit of support. I know many times in the past she has always helped with advice & encouragement with my own resto' and now would be a good time to try & repay some of that kindness.

As old Shaw Taylor used to say "Keep 'em peeled" & hopefully we will catch the slimy gits that did this.



All the best

Adam

[tcsoar]

Hi,

I whole heartdly support Adams views.

I am in a similar situation, in the middle of a long term +2 restoration which is getting close to all the bits going back on. I will be using Sue for as much as poss. and it would great for others to do so to.

To be quite honest I would have done so anyway having recieved such good service and guidance in the past (Sue even swapped an odd coulored quarter light glass for the correct one at no cost).

Hope that these scum are found and the parts are returned.

Wish you the best,

Chris.

[Blue]

I'm Mick and Sue Miller's daughter, and I'd like to thank everyone for their kind messages and support following the burglary at my Mum's business.

As you can imagine, there are not words to describe how I feel about the scum that did this. When my father died suddenly five years ago, my Mum could have sold the stock and cars, shut up shop and semi-retired. But she is as passionate about Elans as my father was, and all too aware of the amount of knowledge that he had taken with him.

So she decided to carry on running the parts business (a side of things that she had always taken care of and so knew almost as much about as Dad - if not more!). Over the last five years she has worked so incredibly hard, not just to continue the business, but to remanufacture obsolete parts so that Elan owners could restore their cars to as standard condition as possible. Not only that, but she has - to use a bit of corporate speak - a level of customer service second to none. How many places do you know of that would answer the telephone at 7pm at night or on a Sunday, let alone welcome you, make you tea, etc?

I am so unbelievably proud of her, and what she has achieved, and for people to do what they have done makes me feel physically sick.

Thank you again for your support; my Mum really appreciates it, and so do I.