How do you prevent theft of your car?

[al's28/33]

I am more worried about some idiot stealing my motometer wings or license plates off the car than the car itself......that being said I still don't leave her out of my sight for very long if it's a trip to the store or ice cream shop. Always garaged and locked up!

[Bruce Adams]

How many A's have we even heard were stolen on this Board in the past two years?

The guy last week was about the first one I recall who did not coincidentally steal a Model A when he was really grabbing an F-250 with an aluminimum trailer, later dumping the A.

I think some other A's were stolen by "family Members" after recalling Grandpa "Promised" it to them when they were ten.

[Tom Wesenberg]

" For Model A humor on this, watch the Old Bonney and Clyde movie...Beatty pops open the left hood of a parked Model A, fiddles with something unseen for 3 seconds, and the car comes right to life! HA!"

I got a kick out of that also. I guess he must have found the not so hidden spare key.

[fredski]

I usually park next to a nicer car that's more desirable.

fred

[Clydes 31 P/U]

I have a 4 step approach to theft prevention on my A...... shut off gas, remove ignition key, turn off and remove key from battery cut-off and leave her by the truck. First 3 not really needed.

[jthomas6]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Originally Posted by Clydes 31 P/U

leave her by the truck. First 3 not really needed.

Very good solution!

[Benson]

I thought about putting a Bamboo Pit Viper snake inside the car.

Problem was that "Step and a Half", the snake, could escape out of the smallest cracks and holes in the car and besides, he did not like the cold weather.

A Viper bites you and you might make a step and a half before the venom gets you.

One night I went to wake up a guy. In the flash light beam I saw a Viper wrapped around the barrel, right below the plastic bag covering the flash suppressor of his AR-15. For just second I thought "that guy is playing a joke with a green plastic snake! Then I reconsidered when the snake's tongue started to flick in /out.

[P.S.]

In the second "Dukes of Hazard" reunion (the TV show, not the potty mouth movie), Bo and Luke kept a sack of rattle snakes in the General Lee as an anti-therft device. It worked!!

[Tom Wesenberg]

You just paint the car a color so ugly no one would want to steal it.

[mshmodela]

I suppose a long chain or steel cable threw all 4 rims and looped around the axel and or drive shafts might slow them down a bit...a steel snake if you will...

[Clydes 31 P/U]

I don't know Tom, somebody somewhere would swipe it. My Dad was color blind, being in the construction business with heavy equipment he wanted to paint his A (CC/PU) Cat yellow and put the company decals on the side boards, he chose the paint color ( Cat yellow, by his eye), when it was laid on, it was more of a calf s**t yellow but to him it looked great. Letting the color blind man choose the paint is like having the vegetarian of the group choose the steakhouse!

[Ron Lachniet]

Someone said they had their VW stolen. The only new car I ever owned was a 1968 VW. After owning it for one year it was hit five times and the ice on the floor in December melted in April. I wish someone would have stolen that miserable car.

[FrankWest]

Originally Posted by Ron Lachniet

Someone said they had their VW stolen. The only new car I ever owned was a 1968 VW. After owning it for one year it was hit five times and the ice on the floor in December melted in April. I wish someone would have stolen that miserable car.

My first car was a 1964 convair purchased for 300$ back in 1967. My unemployed brother shined up so well that it looked like a million dollars and as a result the car was stolen but broke down 2 blocks away.
Maybe we should leave out vintage auto looking like barn finds so nobody would want to steal them.. Ha HA.

[nickair]

Passive: Fake coil wire

[Brendan]

Originally Posted by BlueSunoco

I'd think the fuel shut off will 'get' them 90% of the time. After stealing the car and having it die half a block down the road, the thief will panic and bolt leaving the car behind. Few young people know of the shut off under the tank, or know if it is 'on' or 'off' even if they did find it.

I cant remember if its on or off!

[H. L. Chauvin]

FWIW: Advice I received from a Hotel Security Guard:

Some time ago while often flying out of town on early morning flights, I was making hotel reservations using company's similar to Park-N-Fly.

I parked at the same large multistory Hilton near the airport, leaving my "modern" car there several days until I flew back.

Got to know the Hotel security guard after a few back-to-back out-of-town trips.

He said they had a lots of vehicle break-ins in this metropolitan area, i.e., thieves looking for cash, stereos, GPS's, battery's, car parts, & if extra keys were found in the car, the car was often stolen & later completely stripped.

He mentioned that no doubt it was thieves looking to obtain drugs.

He suggested that from his 10 years or so past experience with car thieves at this Hotel, that I park overnight(s):

1. Under or near a parking lot light pole; and,

2. More importantly, in a parking space immediately adjacent to & facing the (4) lane thoroughfare out front.

He reported that he never witnessed a single theft of any kind for cars parked as such in his parking lot. His theory was that patrol cars passed often on the thoroughfare & thieves always prefer to break in cars concealed from sight by other cars, especially where the parking lot was not well lighted.

Followed his advice & never had a problem.

With a Model A or modern car, this advice may have merit for somebody parking & spending a night at a hotel/motel where the parking lot is not readily visible from the Receptionist's Desk.

Also, if one intends to obtain a battery cut-off switch for security purposes, not a bad idea to go a step further & buy a more expensive "Marine" type cut-off switch with a removable metal key that one can remove for overnight parking at hotels/motels.

[1crosscut]

For overnight stays at hotels, home etc... get one of the motion activated driveway alarms.
Place the remote motion sensor in the vehicle and place the home unit inside with you.
I do this when I am traveling with my pickup truck. I place the ssensor unit inside the covered bed of the truck. If anyone opens up the tail gate it will let me know.

[P.S.]

Originally Posted by 1crosscut

For overnight stays at hotels, home etc... get one of the motion activated driveway alarms.
Place the remote motion sensor in the vehicle and place the home unit inside with you.
I do this when I am traveling with my pickup truck. I place the ssensor unit inside the covered bed of the truck. If anyone opens up the tail gate it will let me know.

That is.... BRILLIANT!!

Great idea, thanks!

[Tacoma Bob]

In '94 I built a sweet 77 chevy short wide. Some SOB decided they needed it more than me. It was stolen at 9 AM on a Sunday. It was found filleted within 3 hours. Now days with my "A" I'm more inclined to put a body bag in the car with instructions that read "try this on for size. If caught you will need it."

[Jeff in BC]

You could always try this (from Oct. 1932 Popular Mechanics).

Jeff