MOTORING NOTES

Opunake Times, 19 August 1932, Page 4

MOTORING NOTES

OUTWITTING CAR THIEVES Responsibility for the prevalence of car-stealing rests mainly with car owners, yet by taking very simple precautions owners can make it almost impossible for car thieves to operate. It is a very simple matter to make a car thief-proof, though it is pratically impossible to make it thief-proof in the sense that it cannot be stolen. To lock the ignition of your car does not safeguard the vehicle, as ignition keys usually are identical, and professional car thieves carry keys for the locks of different makes of cars. If every owner, however, would go to the trouble of hacksawing a quarter of an inch off the end of his ignition lock key and then of placing this piece in the lock, it would prevent the lock being operated by any key except the sawn one he possesses. It should be remembered that car thieves act quickly, and if they find it impossible to start or unlock a car, they do not attempt to puzzle things out; they transfer their attentions to another car, and so avoid making themselves conspicuous. Other excellent precautions against the theft of your car include the fitting of a hidden switch between the existing ignition switch and the engine (or in the low tension lead to the coil), the fitting of a lock over the starter button, or the padlocking of the accelerator rod to a convenient staple in the dashboard. When no devices are fitted, the illegal use of your car can still be prevented by removing some essential part of the electrical system, such as the distributor rotor (coil ignition), or the wipe contact distributor (magneto ignition). Another very simple trick is to change over the spark plug leads thus upsetting the firing order of the plugs.