Stealing Cars: Technology and Society from the Model T to the Gran Torino

The technology-thwarting car thief has become as advanced as the cars themselves.

As early as 1910 Americans recognized that cars were easy to steal and, once stolen, hard to find, especially since cars looked much alike. Model styles and colors eventually changed, but so did the means of making a stolen car disappear. Though changing license plates and serial numbers remain basic procedure, thieves have created highly sophisticated networks to disassemble stolen vehicles, distribute the par...