Why are car keys so ugly?

[menguin]

ash73 said:

TheVole said:

Nik da Greek said:

Mine is a rotor. Becos rotary

This is awesome.

Yes, like that and the Type R one.

That's got to be the best in the thread. Simple, understated. Even if you have no idea what a wankel is it still looks cool.

[Dog Star]

somynameiswhat said:

And they're £300 from your local Volvo dealer

Tell me about it; just about any other key you can get from a specialist key place, but not Volvo.

[Dyl]

My Polo came with the plain black key on the left, so I bought the Golf GTI chrome end from eBay and fitted that.

Much improved I think and gives the key a nice heavier feeling.

[Theophany]

Compared to the current crop of BMW keys and they're vaguely nondescript fobs, I quite like that my E63 has a proper key. The plastic feels horribly cheap and brittle though.

[wildcat45]

I too like the standard JLR key. Simple and not too big and with keyless entry and starting it only comes out of a coat pocket when the back of the car is too filthy to touch and I want to open the tailgate.



I do like the light weight and simplicity of 1990s keys. My MG's key from 2001 has a pleasant octagon design with little mock Allen key holes in it.

It's also hinged which I am told has two purposes. First so that it bends rather than pokes a hole in your pocket lining and second so it deforms in a crash if you slam your knee into it.

The alarm/door box is light and small.



I much prefer the old school method of turning a key to start a car rather than pressing a button though I do like the way my Landy sweeps it's dials and makes the gear selector pop up.

[Corranga]

kambites said:

They are particularly bad. There are aftermarket options though:

http://www.elise-shop.com/nukey-kit-cobra-remote-c...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Integrated-custom-FOB-ke...

Not cheap, though.

The 2nd Elise conversion key is an old Rover / Land Rover key, you can buy them with no badge (like that one) on eBay for about 3 quid and convert your Cobra remote to fit!

Those keys must be late S1 Elise keys, my S1 Elise had an older square plastic bit, no where near as 'designed' as the thing in the photo up top. Our VX220 had those keys though..

[kambites]

Corranga said:

The 2nd Elise conversion key is an old Rover / Land Rover key, you can buy them with no badge (like that one) on eBay for about 3 quid and convert your Cobra remote to fit!

Good spot. At that price I'm tempted to give it a go.

ETA: Hmm looks like the key blade is different on the Rover ones. I wonder if it's easy to swap in a Lotus (Vauxhall?) key blade to one of those cases.

Edited by kambites on Friday 3rd June 10:25

[Corranga]

kambites said:

Good spot. At that price I'm tempted to give it a go.

I bought the Landy key about 6 months ago, and haven't yet got around to it. There is a post on SELOC with a bit of a how to I think.

Back on topic, I remember when my dad collected his first new car, an Alfa 156. At the time, this thing looked amazing:


I mean, it's red, and all of the other keys I'd seen were really crap.

Fast forward a little and I now have my own Alfa, a 159.
The detailing in the key is nice, with the Alfa badge on an alfa style grill, shame they felt the need to hide / disguise it though!


At least it's saved by having one of the best looking badges to adorn a car

[IdiotRace]

It's very simple but I like my MR2's key, the UK spec ones aren't as nice though.

[Kaelic]

New mustang key is rather nice and has a little emergency key if your fob battery dies etc...

much better than previous version mustang keys, which were mainly transit van keys (including GT500's!!)

[TommoAE86]

This is mine as im not quite to GTR levels

[HardtopManual]

Ferrari got keys right with the 355

[moggy1000]

The key for my proceed GT & the other arf's Subaru.
Although its the standard keyless entry key for the Kia, it is quite nice with metal (effect?) buttons

[bobclayton]

Corranga said:

kambites said:

Good spot. At that price I'm tempted to give it a go.

I bought the Landy key about 6 months ago, and haven't yet got around to it. There is a post on SELOC with a bit of a how to I think.

Back on topic, I remember when my dad collected his first new car, an Alfa 156. At the time, this thing looked amazing:


I mean, it's red, and all of the other keys I'd seen were really crap.

Fast forward a little and I now have my own Alfa, a 159.
The detailing in the key is nice, with the Alfa badge on an alfa style grill, shame they felt the need to hide / disguise it though!


At least it's saved by having one of the best looking badges to adorn a car

Looks like they gave a very similar key to the 156 to Iveco too - I have this key for my van.

[greghm]

motoroller said:

This one for me

Excellent one. Quick question, do you think an experienced key cutter can reproduce a key using just picture (the classic ones obviously) ?

[OwenK]

HardtopManual said:

Ferrari got keys right with the 355

Why is it shaped like a guitar

[epom]

OwenK said:

HardtopManual said:

Ferrari got keys right with the 355

Why is it shaped like a guitar

For Clapton obviously :-)

[Fetchez la vache]

brushwood69 said:

Fitted most early fords!

If I recall, the early escorts only had 8 or 12 key combinations anyway, so if you had one key you also had a 1/8 (or 1/12) chance of opening & starting another...
Things have luckily changed, somewhat.

[Shakermaker]

motoroller said:

This one for me

i am making this for my upcoming shed I think. Saw it before, loved it.

My key is as dull as anything, standarad '09 VAG fare with a Skoda badge on it. Could do with being smaller really.

The old VW ones were my favourite, on my first car (a Polo) and since then nothing has ever bettered it.

I am glad that I finally have a car where the remote lock and key is all in one unit, every other car I have owned previously had it on a separate little box which for some reason irritated me.

[bobbo89]

greghm said:

motoroller said:

This one for me

Excellent one. Quick question, do you think an experienced key cutter can reproduce a key using just picture (the classic ones obviously) ?

Looks more like you'd need a good fabricator to me.

Cut the blade off the old key, cut the screw driver down, weld the blade on and carefully grind and smooth the weld back.