It’s such second nature that you often don’t even realize that you’ve locked your car when you arrive home or at your destination. Locking your car is important to protecting your car from being stolen or broken into and any of your belongings being at risk to be stolen. The types of locks used in cars have gotten more and more advanced as technology as improved, using things like keyless entry, key codes on the door handle and other fobs to help reduce the chance that some can break into your car without having the key or code itself. The evolution of the car door locking system is an important one in terms of your vehicle’s safety when left unattended and as technology continues to advance, can only improve and get even more sophisticated.

Early model cars actually didn’t feature any locking system at all as they were traditionally owned by only the wealthiest people in a town and were therefore at minimal risk for theft as it was. It wasn’t until cars started becoming more available and more common on the road that the risk of theft increased as more cars were being left unattended.

First Locks

The first types of car locks were extremely similar to the home locks at the time. Vehicle locks were cylinders and regardless of the type of system they utilized, up until the 1970s vehicle locks contained the lock code outside of the cylinder lock. This was done so that new keys could be produced based on the same lock codes. Many vehicles used the same key for both the door and the ignition so creating a key for the car door allowed drivers the ability to also start the car as well. The main reason separate keys were created for the ignition and the door was because in the event a thief was able to open the car door, removing the cylinder and stealing the vehicle became a relatively easy process.

Styles of Locks

All of the early vehicle locks were mechanical as opposed to electronic, manufacturers used a particular type of key that could be cut to fit in any lock in their vehicles and throughout the history of car door locking systems there are two types of locks that have been primarily used:

Pin Tumbler– This lock has metal pins within the cylinder and to open the lock a key with the right height of cuts has to be used to raise the pins and allow the lock to open.

Wafer Tumbler– Similar to the pin tumbler, the wafer lock uses flat, one-piece wafers of various sizes. The key pushes all of the wafers into the proper place and the lock can be turned and opened.

The downside of both of these locks is that they can be easily picked if a person had the right tools. While picking is considerably easier now with the internet offering plenty of pick sets and how-to instructions, back when these locks were prominent bumping was the more prevalent and easier method of breaking into vehicles. Bumping is using a blank key made for a specific model of car did this and then once that was inserted, using a screwdriver or hammer to bump the key will force the pins to create space.

The Differences in Keys

With current technology, the need for an actual physical car key is slowly fading away. In even the most basic sedan there is likely a form of key fob or even push-to-start, making a physical key less important than ever.

Early, traditional keys had no extra security other than that they were uniquely cut by mechanical or laser to fit their specific lock only.

After 1998, most vehicles’ keys came with transponder keys, which are chips in the key fob that communicate with the vehicle’s computer to start the ignition. Meaning that there was one cut key and one chip programmed to a specific car, further protecting vehicles from left.

The evolution of the key then went to remote keys that are similar to the transponder keys but also include various function control buttons on the key fob such as opening the trunk and setting the vehicle’s alarm system.

Smart keys are the newest remote technology but function in vehicles without the physical key, when the device is near the vehicle it automatically can unlock the doors and start the engine.

Conclusion

While most car door locking systems are headed towards the keyless entry, knowing the evolution and how keys have advanced is important when maintaining and protecting older model vehicles from theft and understanding your security options.