Car theft has always been a massive problem and up until the early 1990’s, the majority of mainstream cars had very poor security systems built-in.  Even basic steering locks didn’t appear until the late 1960’s and by all accounts, it wasn’t that difficult to break them anyway. All that remained for the thief to do was to ‘hotwire’ the ignition switch by shorting the wires together under the steering column and in a matter of minutes, you’d be roaring away in someone elses pride and joy!  Naturally, some owners devised cunning methods to foil any would be thieves from stealing their modest family saloon. If not kept in a locked garage, a car parked on the street was a relatively easy target for the opportunist toe rag to save himself a long walk home from the pub. An early form of ‘immobiliser’ was simply for the owner to remoe a vital part of the ignition system every time they parked. Usually the rotor arm inside the distributor, this would ensure that the engine wouldn’t start even if a thief gained access and managed to break the ignition lock. After a few attempts (or more usually, a flat battery from trying), he’d give up and move onto the next car. Of course, removing the rotor arm whilst fairly easy on some cars (Cortina, Viva), was downright difficult on others (Austin A60, Mini) and owners could expect bleeding knuckles trying to remove the clips that secure the distributor cap. Soon, savvy owners with minimal knowledge of electrics were installing hidden switches under dashboards that disabled the starter or ignition. Whilst these may well prevent a thief from getting your engine started, I’ll bet that every time the owner tried to start their car, they initially forgot about the switch and cursed their car until they remembered.

What was clearly needed was a more visible deterrent – something a would-be thief would see through the window and think to himself, “sod that, I’ll try the neighbour’s car instead” and so was devised the trusty ‘Crook Lock”.

A crook lock in action!

With one of these beasts attached to the steering wheel, not only did a thief have to first break the steering column lock, he then had to wrestle with this big metal bar that hit his knees and/or bashed into the inside of the door if the wheel could be turned. To the causal thief they may have been a reasonable deterrent but to someone more determined to nick your motor, it usually took just a few minutes of wrestling / cutting / yanking before it was off and the (by now somewhat angrier) thief was on his way! Some even discovered that squirting an aerosol of ‘freezer spray’ into the lock could make it shatter with a small blow from a hammer, making the thing practically fall off anyway.

The manufacturers devised more and more improved versions using tougher metal, high security lock barrels and thick plastic coverings. They even offered a lock from the handbrake to gear lever and one was a massive disc that clamped over the entire steering wheel. Of course, all of these devices took the owner a longer time to fit and remove each time they parked, so invariably they ended up in the boot, much to the car thief’s delight.

In the meantime, the vehicle manufacturers had been slowly introducing formidable security systems in their cars at the factory. Transponder immobilisers in the ignition key,

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