I don’t normally start with an interior shot, but this one of a 1971-1972 Nova shot and posted by William Garrett caught my eye. I’ve never seen this before, a removable steering wheel as an anti-theft deterrent. I guess it would be fairly effective too.
This is what he’s trying to avoid getting stolen. Are they still a hot item for theft? I wouldn’t know.
Does this sticker make it more attractive?
William nabbed this Nova in San Jose.
The 68-72 Nova was a really attractive sedan – far better looking than the 68-72 Chevelle sedans which had a really awkward C pillar treatment.
I’ll bet it isn’t so much the Nova that would be a hot item but the Nova’s parts for use in a Camaro or maybe a 2 door Nova.
Yeah, the hard tops had nicely squared off glass at the back, but the post sedans seemed to stretch back too far, with a curve of too great a radius.
I recall a co-worker who was originally from Uruguay told me they would remove the gear shifter from their car each night to prevent theft. The serious thief can always get your car, stuff just like this just raises the bar on how serious they need to be.
I will disagree with JP, I think the Nova sedan looks just as frumpy as the Chevelle sedan.
Well, depending on when this was, your coworker was right. There was a time here (probably in the 90’s) when people would resort to different ways to prevent theft of cars themselves, stereos, and even wheels. It’s interesting to note that those were times with much less crime than today, and cars are stolen not for their parts but to commit crimes, usually to be set on fire later. The gear shifter is not so easy to remove, but I remember my brother’s Fiat 147 Diesel’s gear shifter would come out from its own accord….I guess it’s more than likely your coworker’s tale was correct.
Greetings from Montevideo
BTW, my dad had a 68 Chevy II Nova sedan which was sold in 1978. Neither it, nor the 78 Chevette which succeded it were ever attempted upon. Which can not be said of most every car my family has owned since then
“BTW, my dad had a 68 Chevy II Nova sedan which was sold in 1978. Neither it, nor the 78 Chevette which succeeded it were ever attempted upon.”
Back in the eighties, I mistakenly left the keys to my ’74 Pinto in the trunk lock while it was parked on the curb in downtown Denver. Four hours later, I returned to find the keys and car untouched…
In the early 1980’s I owned (or did it own me?) an aptly colored lemmon yellow Fiat 128.
Even in times of record high gasoline prices I couldn’t get anyone to buy the pig.
In desperation, I parked it in a sketchy section of town, windows down, keys dangling in the ignition, radio playing with a box of Popeye’s famous fried chicken sitting on the passenger front seat.
I returned 12 hours later. The Fiat was still sitting there. The chicken box was gone.
Those were days with much less crime than today?
Not true. In America, overall, crime levels peaked in the 70s through 1992 and have declined ever since. America today is significantly safer and more peaceful and experiences less property crime than in past decades.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_the_United_States#:~:text=After%20World%20War%20II%2C%20crime,doubled%20over%20the%20same%20period.
I meant in Uruguay, where DougD’s coworker that told the story and I hail from. I can’t talk about America in the ’70s, though from the late ’90s onwards, the places I’ve been to in the US have been really safe.
Got it. I understand, thank you
Agree, DougD.
The 4 door Nova was SO frumpy looking that it made a 4 door Valiant look elegant and desirable.
I had to think of Mr. Bean
I guess installing a removable steering wheel is less expensive than converting to a manual transmission…which I understand is in fact the best theft deterrent.
I figure the only reason I still have my F-250 is because it has a manual transmission. The would be thief popped the door lock, forced the ignition lock so that it would turn to the start position but I’m guessing he couldn’t get it to start since he didn’t know he had to push the clutch pedal to make the starter work.
I guess growing up in a Chicago industrial area meant I saw these removable steering wheels throughout the 1970s. It’s Chicago, where stealing cars started happening when we stopped stealing horses. Theft is common in my neighborhoods around the Cal-Sag. I remember seeing guys carrying around their steering wheels working shifts at Burger King. It was actually pretty common.
The removable steering wheel fits the era of the Nova.
These were often used for muscle cars of that era. Guys who spent weeks tuning their domestic pony and muscle cars wanted to keep them when they worked third shift at the mills and machine tool manufacturers.
This ended due to the availability of less intrusive anti-theft devices arriving in the 1980s, but especially when more options appeared on steering wheels like airbags, radio controls, and cruise control.
Having this on an old restored Nova fits perfectly – very sweet touch!
I remember those removable steering wheels, Grant made them, iirc in the 80s when the Club steering wheel locks were found to be ineffective.
The wheels remove in seconds. It was a good idea, simple, and highly visible,
Many theives, like the theif who stole my Bonneville were often equipped to remove The Club in seconds, but they probably wouldn’t be equipped to steal that car.
Three pedals on the floor are a theft deterrent these days it seems very few people can drive a manual shift car, the most commonly stolen car here are Mazda Demios simply because the ex JDM versions of Mazda 2s dont have factory immobilisers.
Considering the rupe goldberg finicky electronics rats nest that is aftermarket car alarms this is a much more simple and effective anti-theft deterrent. A (pre airbag) steering wheel isn’t any more cumbersome to carry with than you than a motorcycle helmet.
Now a days who knows, modern cars are probably easier than ever to steal because people just seem to love to leave their high tech keyless fobs in the center console, why mess with hot wiring an old Nova? Sort of like the aftermarket stereos with removable faceplates, I’m not sure it’s particularly lucrative to fence single DIN stereos in 2022
C’mon now……who would want to steal a green Chevy II ?
What strikes me the most isn’t just the removable/removed steering wheel, although I believe GM made it difficult to R adn R them with a taper fit spindle, but what appears to be a locking cover over it.
Or course a flatbed towtruck or even a conventional one with a dolly makes short work of it for a pro, but for an amateur it would seem to be pretty effective, even if you did just happen to carry a spare steering wheel with you.
Nice old Chevy II ! .
Removable steering wheels date back to the ‘Roaring Twenties’ that I know of .
My son’s domestic Honda RHD Civic uses one too, I imagine he thinks the tuner crowd will know what the clutch pedal is for .
-Nate
One of the weirdest anti-theft devices I’ve come across was the shifter clamp. I remember being curious about them when I visited Malaysia with my family as a child. Conceptually similar to “The Club” but for your shift lever. I only ever saw them on automatics but it seems they were available for manuals too:
https://img1.icarcdn.com/5891789/gallery_used-car-carlist-proton-wira-gl-sedan-malaysia_000005891789_14d10d09_8339_4d47_b40e_bd931226382d.jpg.webp?smia=xTM