Was it really that easy to Hotwire a car?
Discussion
Appreciate it's different now with immobilisers and whatnot. But films from the seventies and eighties always show someone dragging two wires from under the dash and sparking the bare ends together till the car starts.
I know I know, it's the movies. But it wasn't really anything like that to Hotwire a car surely?
I know I know, it's the movies. But it wasn't really anything like that to Hotwire a car surely?
Mopar440 said:
If there was no steering lock and no other form of immobiliser fitted, then, yes. Connect a brown wire to a white wire (turns ignition on) then spark the brown wire to the feed to the starter motor (often white/yellow) and away you go!
Ah, I thought there must be a turning the ignition on phase. Otherwise you'd just be turning the starter to no avail. Yup. My Mk1 Cavalier. I lost the key while out, but the doors were open. I knew I had another key at home.
with no knowledge of which wire colours were which, unscrewed the underside of the steering column cover off, and joined 2 connectors on the barrel with a piece of wire until the lights on the dash came on, then bridged across to a third terminal to crank the starter over, vroom, release the third connection, away we go. pull the wire off to stop at the other end. The steering lock had long since stopped working so this helped.
Got home, took my stuff out of the back seat to find the key underneath it.........
with no knowledge of which wire colours were which, unscrewed the underside of the steering column cover off, and joined 2 connectors on the barrel with a piece of wire until the lights on the dash came on, then bridged across to a third terminal to crank the starter over, vroom, release the third connection, away we go. pull the wire off to stop at the other end. The steering lock had long since stopped working so this helped.
Got home, took my stuff out of the back seat to find the key underneath it.........
MC Bodge said:
Pretty much, although the lock could be forced with a big screwdriver.
If not, the steering lock was easily broken too.
Cars were stolen, dumped and burnt-out In very large quantities back then.
one of the most terrifying incidents in my driving history was driving an old car that had been hot wired and the steering lock broken off (an old honda accord ,possibly a 1980 car ) ,it was my mates and the tIf not, the steering lock was easily broken too.
Cars were stolen, dumped and burnt-out In very large quantities back then.
t had lost the keys. whatever bit had broken on the steering lock managed to get jammed just prior to turning into a left hand bend resulting in us heading across the road and up an embankment into a small tree.thankfully at fairly low speed and no one hurt. stupidity in the extreme driving it in the first place even as a daft teenager.
ging84 said:
it was often even easier than any of that
a lot of cars had the same key
frankly mind boggling now
Reminds me of a tale I heard from a chap who was a service manager of a Ford dealer back in the seventies. a lot of cars had the same key
frankly mind boggling now
Bloke brought a Ford Escort in for a clutch. Left them the keys, they retrieved car from outside, fitted new clutch, bloke comes back, why hasn't his car moved?
You've guessed it..!
Primary security for most cars of the 60s/70s/80s was the door and steering locks. Most door locks wore out quickly. so after a few years almost any key would open the lock. Most steering locks would break with a little force, either by smashing the lock sideways with a lump hammer or pulling the lock barrel out with a slide hammer.
Once you were in and the steering lock dealt with, shorting the wires or turning the switch were simple tasks. If you could get under the bonnet, you only really need three wires to get most cars going. Have a look at episodes of Roadkill where they are getting some junker going out of a scrap yard. Wire from the battery to the coil and the coil to the distributer. Then flash a heavy wire from the battery to the starter solenoid. Failing that just push the car down the hill and drop the clutch! Scary isn't it!
If you have an older car and you want to keep it, you need to add some more security. My cars have a concealed ignition switch, fuel cutoff, a basic tracker unit and the Land Rover 110 has a lockable foot-box. (older Land Rovers are stupid/easy to steal).
Once you were in and the steering lock dealt with, shorting the wires or turning the switch were simple tasks. If you could get under the bonnet, you only really need three wires to get most cars going. Have a look at episodes of Roadkill where they are getting some junker going out of a scrap yard. Wire from the battery to the coil and the coil to the distributer. Then flash a heavy wire from the battery to the starter solenoid. Failing that just push the car down the hill and drop the clutch! Scary isn't it!
If you have an older car and you want to keep it, you need to add some more security. My cars have a concealed ignition switch, fuel cutoff, a basic tracker unit and the Land Rover 110 has a lockable foot-box. (older Land Rovers are stupid/easy to steal).
Mopar440 said:
If there was no steering lock and no other form of immobiliser fitted, then, yes. Connect a brown wire to a white wire (turns ignition on) then spark the brown wire to the feed to the starter motor (often white/yellow) and away you go!
or if it was an old Ford just put any similar key in the ignition and away you go.ging84 said:
it was often even easier than any of that
a lot of cars had the same key
frankly mind boggling now
My Mum locked the keys inside our then Vauxhall Viva. It was no problem, though, her friend lent her the keys from her Mk1 Ford Escort, which thankfully opened the Vauxhall door and allowed my Mum to retrieve her keys. a lot of cars had the same key
frankly mind boggling now
Them were t'days.
Starting it was easy, just prise the ignition switch off the end of the barrel and turn it with a screwdriver.
Steering lock was a bigger challenge but not that hard, if you wanted to do it quietly without hammering you could either yank on the steering wheel or put a bar through the wheel for leverage and just snap the lock.
Steering lock was a bigger challenge but not that hard, if you wanted to do it quietly without hammering you could either yank on the steering wheel or put a bar through the wheel for leverage and just snap the lock.
MC Bodge said:
My Mum locked the keys inside our then Vauxhall Viva. It was no problem, though, her friend lent her the keys from her Mk1 Ford Escort, which thankfully opened the Vauxhall door and allowed my Mum to retrieve her keys.
Them were t'days.
Aye lad. Dad locked the keys in his Mk 4 Grey Cortina, flagged down the first Ford that drove past and borrowed their key to unlock it.Them were t'days.
I thought that car was so cool at the time, the Tom Robinson song was bang on!
I once bought a 328i Sport that had a common issue with the ignition barrel not working (think the key might have just turned and done nothing.) The previous owner had smashed the steering lock and had ripped all the wires out from under the dash so he could still use the car. You still needed the key to de-activate the immobiliser. Twist the ignition and permanent live together, de-activate the immobiliser and touch the starter motor wire and it'd fire up. I got a few funny looks off people if they saw me hotwire it.
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