[Greg Reid]

Ran across this Hagerty blurb and thought I'd share it here. I think that some of us can relate...

A few things to know before stealing my 914

Dear Thief,

Welcome to my Porsche 914. I imagine that at this point (having found the door unlocked) your intention is to steal my car. Don’t be encouraged by this; the tumblers sheared off in 1978. I would have locked it up if I could, so don’t think you’re too clever or that I’m too lazy. However, now that you’re in the car, there are a few things you’re going to need to know. First, the battery is disconnected, so slide-hammering my ignition switch is not your first step. I leave the battery disconnected, not to foil hoodlums such as yourself, but because there is a mysterious current drain from the 40-year-old German wiring harness that I can’t locate and/or fix. So, connect the battery first. Good luck finding the engine cover release. Or the engine, for that matter.

Now, you can skip your slide hammer. The ignition switch’s tumblers are so worn that any flat-bladed screwdriver or pair of scissors will do. Don’t tell anyone.

Once you’ve figured that out and try to start the car, you’ll run into some trouble. The car is most likely in reverse gear, given that the parking brake cable froze up sometime during the Carter administration. Since there is not a clutch safety switch on the starting circuit, make sure to press the clutch down before you try to crank the engine. (I don’t want you running into my other car in the driveway.) This is doubly necessary because my starter is too weak to crank the clutch-transmission input shaft assembly with any success.

With the clutch pedal depressed, the engine should turn over fast enough to get things going. But first, you’ll need to press the gas pedal to the floor exactly four times. Not three. Not five. Four. The dual Webers don’t have chokes and you’ll be squirting fuel down the barrels with the accelerator pumps for the necessary priming regime. If you don’t do it right, the car won’t start before the battery gives up the ghost. Consider yourself forewarned.

[Drag Star Le Mans]

Nobody would stand a chance getting my 66 Nissan Patrol running even if they had the key.

[Greg Reid]

A clutch pedal alone is enough to foil most theives nowadays.

[einstein]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

A clutch pedal alone is enough to foil most theives nowadays.

Which is why my daughter-in-law bought a VW CC a few years ago with M6. She was an LEO here in Alabama and figured if she got jacked, she'd just get out and watch the fun while she pulled out her shootin' iron.

And I think we're about to buy it from them now that they need an SUV for upcoming baby and still have room for great danes.

[The Champ]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

A clutch pedal alone is enough to foil most theives nowadays.

Otherwise known as a....



I have this shirt - available from Summit.

[mrennie]

When I was a teenager my first car was a 1981 Honda Civic with a manual choke on the dash. Used to leave the keys in it all the time since I lived in a small town and thought there was no theft (I know, stupid.)

One day I go out to jump in the car for work and it is missing. WTF??? I look down the block and don't see it, so call the cops.

20 minutes later they show up and ask me to describe the car, then tell me to jump in the cruiser so we can go look for it. Cop has a smile on his face and I wonder what's up...

We drove around the corner and my car is there on the shoulder, keys in the ignition, no damage, nothing taken.

Choke knob was not pulled out and best we could figure, the thief got it started by pumping the gas but this was not enough to keep it running and they gave up.

[hobbygto65]

914 Porsche, please steal my car. Had to be the worst Porsche ever built.

[RocktimusPryme]

People have this idea that millennials are in high school or something. I wish that were true because I turn 40 in like 4 months.... I can work a video game controller and manual transmission with equal fervor.

My 1943 WIllys MB would really be a question mark for thieves. It has a shifter, 4wd in and out, plus a high low with a neutral setting so you can run a PTO. I don't have the badge on it that tells you where all the settings are so even I confuse myself.

Ive had cars broken into twice but never stolen the actual car. They took the strangest things too.

Once someone broke into my 2004 Civic, took a single 3 wood, but left the rest of the clubs, my Transformers track jacket, and stole all the spare change out of my center console.

[66sprint6]

When I was a kid, I lived in a building where the guy had a 914 in the underground parking. I remember him removing and cleaning any part that he could get off. I get in the elevator one day and there he is, he had detailed one wheel and tire up in his apartment. Then the rest one by one. Now that’s commitment.