Times are tough and I'm a vulture, so former Jalopnik intern, Andy Didorosi and I jumped at the opportunity to own a 1995 Ford Cargo with a custom rollback bed, diesel engine and 347k miles. It's a monster. The 22' custom built extended rollback bed was designed to carry two full sized manlifts to jobs so it'll handle pretty much anything that goes down the road. All the hydraulics work, there isn't a single leak, top it off with the fact that there's a bible's worth of historical and service documentation and the 5.9 liter turbodiesel starts like a champ even on a cold fall day after sitting for almost a year. Who said the Carpocalypse was all bad? Since these pictures were taken, we've removed 14 years of filth from the interior and did an in-depth inspection finding some little things that'll need to be fixed, but for the most part it's in marvelous condition.

What we'll do with this behemoth? Well, your guess is as good as ours, but considering rollbacks are the Swiss Army knives of the wheeled world, we'll find all kinds of fun stuff to do with it. We're also planning on going through and doing all the regular maintenance as if it hadn't been looked at in years, then we're planning on changing the look to something more in-line with the Jalopnik way.

Chris Russell, the owner of the company, was arrested last Friday on one count of auto theft and one count of receiving a stolen vehicle. The car's owner hopes the case goes to trial and Russell gets lots of jail time. For those keeping track:

TOW OPERATORS: 134,000,000
TOW VICTIMS: 12

[Indianapolis Star]

Police officers in Gardena, California and Rocky Mount, North Carolina have taken to setting up roadblocks to check vehicles for illegal tint, registration and drivers for belt usage and license possession. No drunk drivers were busted, but 62 vehicles were impounded during the four-hour California roadblock alone. Police estimate that each seizure is worth around $1,400 in towing, ticketing and impound fees each. Well, it is twenty-three years past 1984, we suppose. This makes us feel a little queasy and a lot mad. After all, they disbanded the Royal Ulster Constabulary. Who told freaking Gardena they could pick up the mantle. We suppose losing those Nissan HQ tax dollars hurt worse than they initially thought. Thanks Carlos. Thanks a lot. – Davey G. Johnson

Licensing Roadblocks Generate Revenue by Seizing Cars [TheNewspaper]

Related:
No Idling For You! [Internal]

In a measure of respect to the almighty Mr. Diddley, we offer up this video of a man towing a Manta 1,110 miles kilometers to the tune of one of a song Bo appeared in a video for, as played by a guy from Delaware and some naval vessels. And what a sweet little Manta it is! '71 Manta A. We would so roll Gaffey Street and Pacific Ave. trolling for the laidies that it's beyond funny, broseph. We'd get takeout calamari, cruise down to the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium and feed it to said chix while our Russian houseboy Vasily cooled them with fans made of the finest grape leaves and Cannoli leather Swedish kroner can buy. Due to the multitude of acquired babes, Vasily would likely have to walk. Remind us to give him a raise. – Davey G. Johnson

Related:
Plural Opel Coupes, Black Metal, Mantas! [Internal]

Apparently bored driving up and down the same old strip, officer Barry Halpern of Irvington, New Jersey decided that hijacking random items from impounded vehicle was the new way to show the kids he was hip. In collusion with MTS Towing owner Mark Minett, Halpern is accused of pulling out the five-finger discount coupon on CDs, tools, laptop computers and cash conveyances held at the MTS yard. The pair faces third-degree theft charges with sentences as harsh as a decade for Halpern and five years for Minett. Remember, officers. You can make crime pay some of the time, but petty theft involving tow companies? Aim higher, gents. Roll some drug dealers. At least the sleaze factor is lower. – Davey G. Johnson

New Jersey: Cop Arrested for Stealing from Seized Cars [TheNewspaper]

Related:
One More Reason to Hate Tow Yards [Internal]

Residents of the Seabreeze Point apartment complex in Daytona Beach, FL woke up hopping mad when they found out their cars had been towed from their authorized spaces for being backed into their spots. It was apparently a new decree on the part of complex management that hadn't trickled down to the huddled masses taking refuge in the building in exchange for a monthly check. Residents were then told that it was a mix-up, but they were still SOL for the $110 impound fee until they got a local television station involved, at which point they were allowed to retrieve their vehicles at no charge. – Davey G. Johnson

Daytona Beach Apartment Complex Tows Residents' Cars [WFTV]

Related:
Nuts to You, Motorists! Tow Yards in Texas Not Refunding Money [Internal]

Crikey, Humbert! Golly, Gumpert! Fackin' feck, Q-bert! 51-year-old Mendoza Stewart purchased a '72 Bristol 411 a few years ago. In 2004, he parked it in a legal spot near his home in Kennington, only to find that it had been hauled off by the council and then removed from the flatbed with a mechanical claw, destroying the car's aluminum roof. Although the council admits they were in the wrong, Stewart's yet to see a dime. The value of the car? Right around 30,000 quid. Eep. – Davey G. Johnson

Crushed by the Council: The 30,000 Car that was Parked Legally [This is London via Winding Road]

Related:
Britain's Bristol Fighter Now Available in "Faster" [Internal]

In the great state of California, when one goes to pay one's registration, any past-due parking tickets must be taken care of before the state issues its citizes the little colored sticker for the plate. It's all organized by VIN and networked by computer. Apparently, things in the UK aren't quite as sophisticated, which we find rather nutso because the DMV is far from the most efficient organization in the nation. But new legislation has some folks up in arms because it could affect people who've purchased vehicles secondhand and are unaware their car is on a hit list, leaving them to produce proof while coughing up towing and storage fees to recover their vehicles. We're calling government scam on this one. Scam, scam, scam. – Davey G. Johnson

Cars will be seized from innocents under new law [Gulfnews]

Related:
Something About England: London to Triple Congestion Tax on Large Cars [Internal]

Scotto just hipped us to this, and we have to say, although this isn't the first bike-based tow truck we've seen, the concept simply doesn't stop completely ruling. We totally want one. We also think you should listen to "Drownded" by the Wynona Riders. No, we're not trying to be Idolator. We're just still suffering from yesterday's "Maximum East Bay Day" hangover. Now go forth and tow! – Davey G. Johnson

Cool Japanese Tow Trucks [VWVortex]

Related:
Moto Tow: A Honda Gold Wing Wrecker [Internal]

Buddy Frazier, Jr., owner of of Chattanooga, TN's Absolute Towing and Recovery, has been busted on numerous counts of auto theft as well as charges relating to running "a shady business," according to Chattanooga authorities. Frankly, every tow yard we've ever dealt with seemed like a shady business to us. We hope they convict you and throw away the key, Frazier. It's punks like you who've ruined it for reputable, fair and decent tow-yard operators everywhere. Then again, we've never met one of those, so we're not quite sure they exist.

More Claims Of "Wrecker Rip-Offs" Surface [WTVC]

Related:
D'oh! Fake 'No Parking' Sign Punks Residents and Cops Alike [Internal]

Pity the Bourgeois. No, really, pity him, for David Bourgeois' Mini Cooper was towed from his Brooklyn street after somebody put up a fake "No Parking" sign. Bourgeois got dinged $205 just to get his car back (Wow! NYC's even more of scam than San Francisco!) and then still has a $60 dollar parking ticket to deal with. Officials say they'll try to dismiss the tickets, but somehow we don't think the tow yard will be so lenient.

Fake 'No Parking' sign suddenly appears...and cars disappear [Kansas City Star]

Related:
Nuts to You, Motorists! Tow Yards in Texas Not Refunding Money [Internal]

This crap makes our blood boil. We've been wrongfully towed, but due to lack of funds and time, we never pursued the issue. We were once rightfully towed as well, due to confusion about street signage. And we've been towed twice due to our vehicle being stolen. And let us tell you this: regardless of circumstances, it's a goddamn scam rife with collusion between municipalities and tow yards. A local Houston TV station dug into the corruption and found that despite court orders, tow yards aren't paying victims of wrongfully-towed vehicles. A new ordinance is in the works in the city saying that if tow yards don't pay illegally-towed citizens, their license could be revoked. What it should say is that the city is liable for the money owed.

Law Allows Wreckers To Take Cars, Money [Click2Houston]

Related:
Tigers to Tow Wilshire Parking Scofflaws [Internal]

The mayor of our fair city of Los Angeles has earmarked a million bucks to test the Tiger Team. Tiger, which is a dorky acronym that stands for Totally Integrated Gridlock Enforcement Resources (we'd be worried if they were only Lightly Integrated) and consists of a fleet of tow trucks that descend on Wilshire Blvd when cars aren't supposed to be parked along it. If it works on Wilshire, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa says he'll expand the program to other bottlenecked thoroughfares around the city.

L.A. Gets Tough on Parked Cars on Major Streets [LA Times]

Related:
The Ice of Boston: Beantown Tows Record Number of Cars During Storm [Internal]

Well, the way we see it, if you're gonna build a towing boom into a passenger car, why not do it in style? And that's exactly what this gentleman from the Pacific Northwest did, converting his Northern Irish gullwing white elephant into an honest-to-McFly tow truck, suitable for hauling around busted DMCs, or in one instance, apparently, a 35' Airstream motorhome. Any bets on what that did to the trans? [Thanks to Marc for the tip.]

In2Time Towing

Related:
Long Island DeLorean Medical Center [Internal]

While we're sitting here on the Left Coast basking in warm, sunny days (a dramatic difference from the storms of a year ago which is a bigger problem than one might think because Angelenos have no clue how to drive in the rain), the kids back East got hit with some stormage, and the City of Boston, determined to keep the roads clear, towed a while mess of cars. Some folks are calling foul. After the jump, a somewhat telling paragraph from the Boston Globe.

"City officials said they issued 4,812 tickets and towed 942 cars during the snow emergency that was in effect between 9 p.m. Saturday and 7 a.m. yesterday. By contrast, during the blizzard of 2005, a snow emergency that lasted nearly six days, the city wrote 5,766 tickets and towed 840 vehicles, according to officials. That comes to roughly six an hour during a storm that dumped more than 2 feet of snow on the city, compared to nearly 28 an hour during last weekend's more modest snowfall."

So was it good community service or emergency profiteering? Maybe Thnderblt wants to weigh in? He's been known to rock at the Government Center and drive past the Stop 'n' Shop with the radio on. We mean, like, the girls turn the color of the avocado when he drives down the street in his El Dorado. ThnderbltDoherty was never called an asshole. Not like Boston authorities.

During storm, city towed a record 942 vehicles [Boston Globe]

Related:
One More Reason to Hate Tow Yards [Internal]

Malcolm MacIntyre-Read, Much Wenlock, Shropshire s Neighbourhood Watch coordinator is fed up with the national mandated that motorists whose vehicles have been stolen have to pay recovery fees, and frankly, we're right with him here in the USA. It's one thing if you get towed due to your own negligence. It's quite another when somebody steals your property and the government that your taxes support charges you to get said vehicle back.

This is an extreme analogy, but it's akin to charging victims of rape for the supplies used to examine them post-trauma. It's insult on top of injury, and having been put through that wringer twice ourselves, we think it needs to change. Besides, if the governments were liable for the fees, they might actually do something to reduce auto theft. We're looking at you, San Francisco.

Call to Stop Fees Policy for Recovered Cars [Shropshire Star, UK]

Related:
One More Reason to Hate Tow Yards [Internal]

If convicted, the following people should be forced to make like Sisyphus and push a Ford F-250 with near-frozen wheel bearings up a mild incline for all eternity: Marianne Thanhminh Lai, Jaime Abel Chan Ramirez, and Jose Rodrigo Torres-Diaz. Why? Because they allegedly towed over 200 vehicles from a private Orange County parking lot without the owner's orders and then charged the vehicles' owners to get them back. Have we mentioned that we hate tow yards?

3 Accused of Towing O.C. Cars Illegally [LA Times]

Related:
Former SF Tow Company Settle Fraud Suit [Internal]

Our friend Jimi played bass in the late, lamented Screw 32, and whenever we'd see him, instead of a standard hello, we'd greet him with a vocal rendition of his lift of the Circle Jerks' memorable bass lick in "Coup d'Etat," which, of course, was on the Repo Man soundtrack. Speaking of repo men, the Cleveland Plain Dealer (CTE's favorite title for any newspaper, ever) has a bit on what the men who come for your auto find after they arrive to take it away. Our favorite is the hubcap barbeque.

Towing Away Cars a Revealing Exercise [Cleveland Plain Dealer]

Related:
This is State Control: Towing May Violate Human Rights [Internal]