Car security in the '70s

[mintybiscuit]

This came up on my 'tube suggestions.

I thought it may interest some of you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v1PRHTpK2c

[Dave Hedgehog]

great find

and i now feel very old lol

[mintybiscuit]

Me too !!

I've just watched a few more from the same uploader.... Thames Tv..... Brilliant stuff

( not affiliated or whatever the mods don't like )

[a8hex]

Ha, most car security was a joke back then. I remember a school friend was given his dad's Capri when he passed his test. The locks were really fiddly with the key, but I found the flat bottle opener blade on my pen knife opened the doors and boot with no problems, certainly much more easily than the key did.

[dandarez]

Taylor Shaw ...

Re the thread title, I have had cars since the mid 60s. Never had one nicked to date, although a few broken into.

I also hold some sort of record where cops arrested me trying to nick 'my' own car in the early 70s.

I had all sorts of alarms 'I' fitted myself over the years, until it got to the stage where fiddling with cars became a no no - ie modern stuff over my old head.

Best one was when me and my mates got fed up with car door locks being f up by would be thieves. So a Harry Moss alarm was fitted (I still remember watching the video cassette that came with it). We didn't follow convention and fitted the 120db siren 'inside' the car. All was fine till it went off one day as two of us got into the car, can't recall how it was triggered but it was f loud. And that was with the doors not yet closed and not even sat down. I still have earing problem on the left side to this day!

[steely dan]

I laugh at the memory of fitting a Selmar Pendulum alarm to a friends new lancia beta coupe . He lived in a flat with no parking but conveniently had a Police Station within sight of his abode . Now this was back in the day where the Police Station ( Carluke, Lanarkshire ) had Police houses attached to the office and after a short but turbulant stay he was told in no uncertain manner to disconnect the alarm or move his car elsewhere .......
I tried ad nausium to adjust the alarm to compensate for the wind but any gust over a gnat's breath would have six bedroom lights illuminating in unison.....
He had that car when the excreta hit the fan over the famed Lancia rust issues and each day the car nosedived in value to a point where he actually left it unlocked in the vain hope that it would be stolen .
When it eventually was traded against a new Jetta for a few pennies ( complete with the recently issued grandiose Lancia rustfree certificate ) I removed the long time redundant alarm from the inner wing and my screwdriver went through the rusty join between it and the front panel .