The theft of a Hakosuka Skyline last week left the JNC world in a bit of a panic. Of course we have been accustomed to bandits wreaking havoc in the select communities, but to target a very specific, 50-year-old car like a custom Hakosuka Skyline signaled that perhaps a new breed of guns for hire were out to capture iconic Japanese classics. It was more akin to an art heist than your typical larcenous behavior. Luckily, this time the car was recovered and the criminals seemed didn’t seem to know what they had, but whether you’re driving a Hako or a Honda, caution must be taken.
What theft prevention measures do you take for your car?
The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What automotive stuff do you hoard?”
We were thrilled to hear about the variety of things our readers hoard. If combined, they’d probably provide a pretty good Library of Alexandria of JNCs. There were important archaeological items like r100guy‘s 35 years’ worth of car brochures, or Vic‘s car magazines dating back to the 70s. It was no surprise that HotWheelsAndFriedChicken lived up to his namesake by hoarding diecast cars.
Then there were those, like Lupus, who hoarded everything surrounding an obscure car, ensuring that it would be driveable for years to come. Others, like Howard D., collected everything from a particular marque. Lee L. gathered a specific part from various cars (gear shift knobs), while ACSK bought numerous duplicates of going-out-of-production consumables to keep their car running for many years to come.
However, the winner this week is Banzai, who went on to hoard entire cars due to a need to find a wiper cap for his Mazda RX-7:
My obsession started as a teenage lust. Was 19 and shopping for my first new car. Just so happened Mazda introduced its Rx-7 that same year and it was love at first sight. Fast forward some 25 years later and my old girl lost a wiper cap. Flew off from a gust of wind I suppose. Anyhow, I had been isolated, just me and my car for all those years and in my quest to find a replacement cap, I found the Rx-7 club forums and a whole other world of other Rx-7 enthusiasts who shared my passion. It continues to bring me to other related places like this one.
Since finding a replacement cap, I started buying other spare parts, which led to another whole car, which drove the need for more parts and so on. I now own five 1st gens (god help me) and have a garage attic of related parts and spares. At least I never have to look far if I ever lose another wiper cap.
Omedetou, your comment has earned you a set of decals from the JNC Shop!
I do have theft prevention measures… but if I told you…..
Simple, my Accord V6 Coupe and my Triumph TR3 both have manual transmissions. That will keep 98% of most thieves looking elsewhere.
Telling you the measures, would defeat the purposes of the measures.
Factory alarm and a discreet switch connected to the stock starter-cut switch on the clutch. If that’s entertaining to anyone you’d probably be enthralled by a video of someone airing up a tire.
?
No one would want to steal my POS. That’s it.
I just installed mustardgas cylinders when thieves break in my car it will lock automaticly and release some of its gas ,have a nice day haha.
Over the years I have used many different things from full alarm systems, hidden start switches, hidden battery disconnect switches, removal of the coil wire/rotor, removing fuses, and the 1980s favorite “The Club”. The key to keeping your car is to make it take time for the thief to figure out why the car will not start. Most car thieves will abandon a theft if it will take more than a two minutes. Now if someone is going to trailer a theft that is an entirely different subject and one honestly that is hard to guard against. That is why I liked the parts removal trick. Even if they figured it out the chances of them having the part were pretty rare.
Of our cars that have to live outside…
Steering:Club.
Ignition: Tried various alarm/ disable systems but are either unworkable with our work schedule or frequently a nuisance. For long absences, I take the rotor out.
Wheels: Have anti- theft lugs but they only tack a few seconds in to the getaway. I think they either have the right lug tools or use some clamping device. Her NA has had two wheelsets stolen.
Nothing beats a good garage.
Might have to invest more into security for my z. I guess a manual trans may not be enough.
As stated above, the best non-bankroll busting approach is a standard transmission and removing the rotor, Next best? disconnecting the ground for the points from the distributor housing. Not easily detectable but very effective.
chokeless carburetor and, eventually, low compression
Thieves haven’t figured out how to steal a car that doesn’t exist. If anything the police and every other driver should be very glad I don’t have a car.
Removable steering wheel, like a race car. Take the steering wheel with you.
In my AW11s, I hit the hidden kill switch, put on a The Club, use another The Club product that goes around the clutch pedal, and finally pull off the wire to the.coil.
Can’t be too careful JNC friends.
I once had an ’86 Camry stolen at a Padres game – pretty sure it was the infamous “universal 1980s Toyota key”, as the car was recovered next day, everything stolen out of it but otherwise fine, with absolutely no signs of forced entry. Damn you free parking day! Ugh, the feeling of violation and creeped-outedness that comes with having a car stolen is not pleasant – 20 years later I still feel it viscerally.
When I’m out, I don’t have anything special. Quick stops I just lock. If I’m leaving it somewhere unattended for a while (which I barely ever do) then the coil lead, fuel pump relay, and battery isolator bolt go with me.
At home if I’m going away for a holiday or the like I’ll do the same , and park my wife’s car in front of the doorway to the garage. We usually take my Navara on trips.
But at present, my main anti-theft measure is the piles of junk around it that are blocking it in the garage! Any would-be thief would be doing me a favour spending a couple of hours clearing out a path out of there!
I own a Ford.
I don’t need to do anything – Mrs. Kravitz lives across the street – thank you Mrs. Kravitz.
I just park my least valuable pile of junk in front of the other piles of junk – and hope they take it and hopefully my Homeowners Ins. will be dumb enough to throw this cracker some cheese on top.
Homeowners insurance specifically excludes automobiles.
So JNCers should have declared value auto insurance, otherwise your custom TE27 will be valued like a 1974 Toyota beater.
Hey funny comments everybody! I’d park my AW11 in the garage but there’s too much junk in there. Guess I better make room to park the car inside.
I didn’t know about the “universal” Toyota key until reading about it here. That’s pretty crazy. I can pull the key out of the ignition of mine while driving, so it wouldn’t be too difficult to pop the door open and drive off. Hey Alan, thx for the good idea about the coil wire onyour AW11.
The thieves had no idea what was on the trailer, likely looking for a race car, and likely said, “what an old Japanese car” and ditched it.
Get Gorilla locking lug nuts, every lug nut needs the key. I use those on my Enkei three-piece wheels. If anything it would slow them down and time is the thieves enemy. Same with using a Club steering wheel lock.
You bring up a great point Mark, that is, why the thieves targeted that trailer. The first thing that I noticed was the blinged out tow vehicle, and the worst offense was the checkered flag graphics on the trailer. Racing graphics on a trailer be it flags, car logos, NGK decals, whatever, do nothing but make you a big rolling target for those with nefarious intent.
In the times that we live in, flying under the radar should never be discounted.
While my car runs good and drives good, trying to unlock the door even for me is a nightmare, so… no one would even try.
So first off, my jnc doesn’t run. So there’s that. Secondly, it’s a manual, so if it did run, the thief is going to have to be determined. Thirdly, it’s parked in, so that’ll make it difficult to tow out. Fourthly, I plan on installing GPS, an aftermarket security system, and a hidden kill switch. And maybe a trash paint job so no one else will want it. But maybe not.
Ben, Its probably not a good idea to have people post on social media what theft preventions they use to keep their vehicles from theft. Thieves already know most techniques, and adding more info to help them on social media will not help theft of our beloved vehicles. We have these vehicles, based on how much we love them, devote all our efforts and hard earned money so that they can be around for future generations, low lives such as thieves could give a rat’s ass and just in it for the profit. It would be better to set up a forum on your site to aid in the recovery of stolen vehicles, and to post up criminals and their personal information who have been caught to aid and hopefully give notice to the public who they are. It would seem more beneficial in my opinion. We care and love our “JAPANESE NOSTALGIC CARS” Theives, could care less and give a squat, in one BLINK of eye destroy the vast and immense effort we put into our beloved cars. Hopefully this will be taken in a positive manner and understanding. We come to this forum because we love these cars, to some they consider an dependent, to theives all they see is $$$
I bought myself an expensive insurance policy.