The origin of automotive security systems

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When it comes to the security of cars, things were way too simpler in the past than they are nowadays. Most of the oldest automobiles did not have any kind of locking mechanism at all. The main reason behind this is that cars were quite expensive back then and bought only by people wealthy enough to afford a chauffeur who would stay with the vehicle all the time. The security systems that did exist were extremely mundane. For instance, the 1900 Leach auto models were designed to have demountable steering wheels. When not in use, the steering wheel was removed and carried away by the driver for preventing theft of the automobile.


With the passage of time, however, car owners started to feel the need for some additional security. Due to the increased affordability of automobiles, there were more unattended cars at parking lots now, which heightened the risks of theft. As a result, the quest for creating highly secured locking systems for automobiles was initiated, which continues even in the modern times, with the development of state-ofthe-art electronically engineered locking mechanisms.

The First Automotive Security Systems - Six Cut Sidebar During World War II, General Motors developed a 6-cut sidebar lock mechanism for securing vehicles used by military personnel and spies. It achieved massive popularity as other manufacturers started to adopt it for their models too. However, some of them continued to use 6-cut sidebar even when it went out of fashion, such as the Chrysler. By 1959, the company was still using the system for securing the trunks of its cars.


Many of us might be aware of the fact that door locks are generally housed in metallic cylinders. The cylinder is fixed within the door and consists of a certain locking system, such as the pin or wafer tumbler lock. Most cars that were manufactured during and after the 1960s used almost the same kind of security system, except for the fact that their lock codes were given on the exterior of the cylinder. It was to allow for the creation of new keys using the same codes, because many automobiles had a single key for their door as well as ignition. Although it is not easy to gain access to a car with a lock cylinder ignition, a thief would not have a tough time to hack it once they have opened the door. In order to cope with this problem, manufacturers started designing individual keys for ignition and door. Let’s have a look at the two primary locking systems that were generally incorporated into cars produced until the 1990s:

Wafer Tumbler -

This lock utilises one-piece flat wafers of varying sizes. When the right key is inserted and turned, the wafers get pushed into place and allow the user to open the door.

Pin Tumbler -

The pin tumbler consists of metallic pins with different sizes. For opening this kind of lock, one must insert a key having accurate height of cuts, so that all the metal pins can be raised to the right level.



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