Before about the early 70s, the square key on GM cars worked the door lock and ignition, while the oval key was for the trunk and glove box. Somewhere in the early 70s the square key became for the ignition only.
In 1969 the square key became the ignition key, when the lock cylinder for the ignition was moved to the steering column from the dash. This was a theft deterrent, and it allowed them to lock the steering wheel and transmission shifter when the ignition was turned off.
GM had the highest theft-rate back then and two keys were used for YEARS. Valets could lock the car but not access the trunk till 1974 then the door/ignition key became the ignition-only key. Also, the keyway on GM vehicles changed each year.
You know what I just realized,, @@jonathanmorrisey5771never seen if in a movie do they return the jey to ya or fwiw is a velley become wjome wait for you to be ready to go at the door and you let them know to take you to wherever the automobile was parked so you do not have to guess where in the workd theu parked it if it was a few blocks away or in a parking garage somewhere a few streets over etc. They might even just come to tjink about that if in all honesty just go an bring the car to the curb so the person does not have to be in the rain for too long fwiw if it is raining or over 80 or 90f outside.. especially if depends on clotjing but also if it is high humidity and/or fwiw imho over 90 to 115 or so out when summer rolls around it can get fr quite hot.. not as bad as 133f but stuff in the 100s or even 90s imho feels most unpleasant to be moving an stuff outside vs standing in shade at that temp. I am pretty sure both Hotels AND restuarants.. well at least hotels do have a valley idk if the idea exists for a food establishment.
This takes me back the the 80's & 90's when my Dad only drove G.M. cars. His keys were 2 different keys, one for the Ignition and one that opened the two Front doors and trunk. Things were just made better back then, remember when cars didn't have all the useless technology. I'm currently driving older cars from the early 2000's because I hate newer cars.
You’re looking back with rose colored glasses. Older cars, especially from the 70’s and 80’s malaise era were the worst. They were under powered rust buckets. There’s a reason there were only 5 digits on the odometer. 100,000 miles was wishful thinking. A new Kia would crush a Cadillac from 1980 in every category.
This takes me back too, I remember the duel keys as well, I never wondered because it was ubiquitous, but after watching this, I was wondering. Back in early 2014 dad bought a new Equinox, it was my introduction to heated seats, a sunroof, and keyless entry/ignition. I asked dad what he preferred and he said the physical keys because he was used to the weight in his pocket. Dad also said he didn't like the sunroof because when light would shine through, he thought a light was left on at night. I'm still getting used to power tailgates and walking away with the fob and the car locks!
@frankleespeaking9519 Not true at all. As someone who drives cars from the 70s 80s and 90s they're way more reliable than new cars. The five digit odometer was to make you think you needed a new car. Kind of like how they used to change body styles every year.
70s and 80s cars WERE garbage. They needed constant maintenance and broke down all the time. The A/C compressors routinely went bad so we would just eliminate that v-belt. Speaking of v-belts, they squealed alot. Power window motors went bad and pot-metal door handles always broke off. I used to see mufflers laying on the shoulder of the highway, as they rotted within a couple years. Yeah, good times indeed.
My first car as a teenager in the late 90s was a 1985 Cadillac Coupe DeVille, and it had two keys. I also had a 1987 Pontiac Bonneville that had 2 keys. I really enjoyed both of those old classics ✌️
My first car was a Box Caprice with you guessed it: Ignition and Door/trunk/glovebox key. It was nice when you wanted to warm up the Carbureted 305 V8 in the winter. Start the engine and get it going so it can take forever to warm up because she will not drive when cold in the winter. She can run with the doors locked to warm up the engine which could take 10-15 minutes!
My mom had a '95 Neon that only needed one key for everything but the two it came with weren't identical - one was colored neon green and the other black. She liked the neon green one because it made her keys easy to find in the bottom of her purse.
1980s GM Cadillacs had the "pellet" ignition key, unless that is different than the key you mention for the 1990s Corvette. I think I have the keys to my dad's long gone Lumina that also had the pellet ignition key. My only two-keyed cars were GMs. 1978 Pontiac, 198x Chevy, 1990s Oldsmobile. I did have a 1985 Grand Marquis, but I think it was a single key as well, my memory of that one is hazy at best. My grandfather had a Plymouth and I think it only had one key. I think Cadillac also had a wallet key which was a credit-card thick key that was the same as the door key, to keep in your wallet pocket. In the idea that if you locked the keys in, if you had your wallet, you could at least still unlock the door.
The two key system actually worked out well since the ignition locks were so cheap they usually had to be replaced once or twice and no rekeying was necessary.
exactly what I just commented my ignition cylinder was replaced so now I have two keys. although the chipped ones are kind of easy now to program to the existing keys without going to the dealer just sucks.
Have owned a bunch of GM cars from that era, having 2 keys never really even seemed odd to me. Actually have a Camaro that has 3 keys, doors, ignition and the locks for the T-tops.
My 1997 Toyota Corolla DX had *three* keys. One for the ignition, one for the doors, and a third one for the trunk. It was my first car, so I assumed it was normal for so many years! I had a Buick Century afterwards with only two keys and I thought it was a massive improvement. I finally ended up with a 1998 Mustang GT which only has the one key. I'm living in the future now, boys 😎
I miss the days when keys were small enough that you could have a set of keys for all 5 cars in the family on one key ring. Today's chip keys remind me of the giant Fisher Price toy keys and you can barely fit two of them in your pocket without looking like you are stealing a bag of potatoes. The 'keyless' start is a solution in search of a problem, but it presents its own problem. Gone are the days where you insert and remove yourself AND they key from the car at entry/exit. Now it is anybody's guess where the key is when you leave the car - talk about annoying! I'm all for progress, but how about we focus on actual progress, instead of change for the sake of change?
Agreed, I ended up getting a key made for my toyota that is JUST the key without all the other gadgets they put on the OEM key. My old 2002 trans-am still has the slender no-frills chip key that supposedly boosts security without the bulk.
Great video, brings back some memories! I had a honda civic back in 04 that had a key for the ignition, and a key to lock access to the gas tank. I still have those keys laying around somewhere but the car is sadly long gone now
80's Chrysler was a two key system as well. One was for ignition and door locks, the other for trunk and glove box. That went away in 1990 when the cars were all swapped to the double sided key. Then there was a special valet key that couldn't operate the trunk/glove box but would operate the doors and ignition.
4:11. Some 90s cars too! One that comes to mind is the 7th generation facelift Corolla, although there are definitely more that I don't have experience with.
I used to drive a '90 beetle. It had 5 keys: The ignition, the engine bay, the doors, the trunk lock and the steering wheel lock. It was a huge change when I changed to a single key car.
My brother has a Triumph Spitfire from 1974, and it has two keys. My 1998 BMW Z3 has a valet key along with a normal key, and it took me a hot second to figure out why one of the keys didn’t have a groove down the center 😅
Ford has this system until at least 1996. I had a 1996 Crown Victoria LX and it had two keys, a plastic head key that started the car, and a second skeleton key that said “ford family of fine cars” and it opened only the Trunk. Years later I bought an 04 Mercury Marquis and it had just the one key for everything, although it also had a grey headed valet key
I currently have a 97 Corolla which had one regular non-chip key for both doors and ignition. But the ignition cylinder was replaced by a generic one so it now has two separate non-chipped keys.
Yeah my parents had '80s GMs with the two key system until a mid '90s GM product being the last one that had the two keys system. Between the '80s and the '90s product, we had two '90s Chrysler products with the single key dual-sided system. It seemed like such a dramatic improvement inconvenience not having to fish around for the right key especially when you have two cars at the same brand. If one didn't work it meant the other one worked versus he had to lug through two sets of circle and two sets of square for the right one. When we went back to the one GM product with the two key set up, it was very annoying. I appreciate the history lesson. I often wondered about that.
Last year, I bought a 2014 Honda Odyssey that came with a key fob and push-button start. The door handle is capacitive and I touch the inside of it to unlock it. To lock it, there's a small button on the outside of the handle. I never have to take the fob out of my pocket, unless I want to show my kids a cool trick. If I hold down the unlock button all the windows and the moonroof open up.
My Parents bought a Datsun 120Y Estate, brand new in 1976. This came with about 3 or 4 keys. 1 for the doors, 1 for the petrol, maybe 1 for the boot, and then of course, the ignition key. In the late 1980's it seemed crazy that you would have a car with 1 key to do everything.
I have a 93 mustang that normally comes with two keys one for door and ignition and one for trunk. However mine was a state trooper so it only has one key for everything. Zack it’s in Miami and if your down here you are welcome to see and film.
My mom's '89 Mustang had two keys. The ignition was a normal looking square key and the one for the doors and hatch had a huge (double wide) oval head on it.
I never owned a car with two keys, but I worked in plenty. I starting working at a quicky oil change and tune up shop in the late 80s. I’ve only driven imports at the time and quickly became frustrated with all the GM vehicles with two keys and trying to remember which key did what. My “cheat code” for GM keys was that the cylinders in the engine were round, so the opposite of the round key started the engine while the other one opened the door. Weird…… I ended up buying two Chevy later in life. They were both EV or EREV (PHEV) and of course had keyless ignition/power on.
I've had a 1994 K1500 for a few years. When I first bought it, I had no idea what the second key did until I locked myself out of the truck. This made me smile 🙃 Buy an older vehicle and learn something. Or even an old RC nitro 😁
Well my mother's side of the family was mostly GM cars, station wagons, trucks, minivans and SUV for many years because my great uncle and grandpa worked at GM. Uncle Frank had a 1990 Cadillac Brougham when I was real young until I was around 15, which he brought from his fathers estate in 1998, and I'm told he purchased the car new shortly after it came off the assembly line in March 1990 for his 60th birthday. My mother owned 3 cars with the 2 key system that I remember growing up with. 1986 buick Regal, 1991 Buick LeSabre, and 1997 Pontiac grand prix and owned that car until summer of 2007 when we got rear ended by a jeep while sitting at a red light sending us crashing into the car in front of us.
I remember the Ford Taurus Wagon having three keys. Wanted to be ignition one for the doors and one for hatch. I certainly drivers space Subaru Forester and tez to regular keys in the valet key. I actually prefer turning in ignition key over keyless car. The problem with push button start is if the fob battery dies you have to figure out spot in your particular car we're supposed to hold the father while you're pressing star button.
It's been a while but as I remember you could lock the doors without the key. With the door open push the lock knob down then close the door while holding the opening handle in the open position. I might just look into the 'for valets' reason because it just doesn't fit with GM. Maybe Cadillac or corvette owners but the rest were more likely to be valets than frequent a place that had valets. Oh and most of the Caddy drivers were seniors or the type that carried a big wad of small bills wrapped in a large bill.
I own a car with 2 keys! I have a 1980 Chevrolet El Camino. One for the ignition, one for the doors. To be honest, I actually love it. It's pretty cool
some cars even came with three different types of keys: the normal key, a valet key, and an extra plastic key which can only unlock the doors (often a simple plastic key)
having owned a lot of east german cars (5 Trabants, 2 Wartburgs, 1 Robur, 1 Barkas and 1 Simson) let me tell u a lil something. All of those have 2 keys at least. One for Doors and Trunk, one for Ignition. Lada does this to this day. Why? Their reasoning is that in cold weather u can keep the ignition key in the car and having the engine running whilst still being able to lock the car from the outside. Keeping the engine running prevents the oil and coolant from freezing in Siberian conditions
I've always hated this. My Volvos all use a single key setup, and I recently had to swap ignition cylinders in one of them, now it has two different keys between door and ignition. I fully intend to pull them both apart (requires drilling 4 small holes and using pins to unlock it) and rekey the replacement cylinder with the tumblers from the original, when I have some spare time, just to have my original key (and redundant 2nd one that I paid $50 for) work on it as factory. On another of my cars, it came with a only one key, mismatched passenger door cylinder, inop trunk one, plus a janky ignition one. I found a pair of (matching/redundant) keys in a junkyard car that flawlessly worked on both doors, ignition, trunk, and even spare tire cover cylinders, so I grabbed them all and put them on my car. Between the harvesting and the transplanting, I spent hours just to have a single key solution with redundant keys.
I still have a truck with two keys....1987 Dodge Dakota....one key for the doors and ignition and a round key for the glove box door in the cab. Chrysler cars of the era had single side with the "teeth" and were inserted teeth side up. My family had GM products over the years and had the oval and square keys and never gave it a second thought. I do recall on a 1970 Chevy Kingswood wagon, to successfully lock the car from the outside, you had to push the door handle button in as you closed the door....otherwise the door lock plunger would just pop back up to unlocked. Your other option as just to lock the car with the oval key from the outside. AMC/Jeep also used the GM setup...probably because they sourced the steering columns from GM's Saginaw steering division. We had an AMC Hornet and I recall the keys being identical to the GM cars...other than having the AMC logo engraved on them.
If you park at a garage where the valet/attendant parks all the cars- no self parking allowed - the valets would not lock your car because it would save them time when they had to move cars around. I worked at a downtown office and the parking garage for the building was undersized for the number of people working there, so the valets squeezed all the cars in like a giant jenga. If you had to leave before the end of the day, you would have to call down 15 minutes before you needed to leave so they could shuffle the cars around to get yours out. Not having to unlock/lock car doors saved them a lot of time in total during the day. The attendants also got good at learning who ordinarily left when so they could plan where they would park each car. Want to piss them off? Be a person that normally works late and call down needing your car just after lunchtime...
Still rocking two keys with my 76 Corvette Stingray L48. Only rocking one with my 04 Dale Jr supercharged Monte Carlo SS of course. Another cool feature on my 76 Corvette the round key also activates the factory alarm with the key cylinder on the driver side fender
4:48 - Vehicles will always need a door with a physical key lock (or other secured mechanical system) in case wireless entry such as fobs/cards/phones fail. A mechanical backup will always be necessary, just like hotel doors that use card entry.
When American Motors owned Jeep, they used GM steering columns and therefore GM-style keys. My Jeep CJ has the square and oval key pair. Ironically, the ignition lock cylinder is broken, the glove box doesn't lock, and it didn't come with hard doors so the keys are useless to me. I installed other safeguards to make up for that. My family has owned some early 2000s GM products with the passive anti-theft keys. It's a little black plastic block on the key housing a resistor. If the key doesn't have the right resistance, the car won't start. It's very easy to bypass but it was an early and low-tech attempt at an immobilizer.
My '86 Corvette has the trifecta. 1. Two keys. 2. VATS-chip ignition key. 3. Manual trans shifter has to be in reverse to turn the key to the LOCK position and remove the key.
I have 6 keys. Ignition, doors, fuel cap and a set of spare keys. I also made my door key easily detachable from the keyring to open the trunk while the engine is running.
I had a '95 Mercury with one key for the ignition and doors, and another for the trunk. Both were double sided, but the profile was mirrored so there was no chance of putting the wrong key in the wrong place. The trunk key could also lock the glove box and the trunk release button, if I recall.
Seems like the Ford double key system is more confusing. At least with GM, it was the square key for the ignition and the round key for everything else.
@@JonathanMoosey I didn't find it confusing at all... 99% of the time I just needed the key for the ignition and doors, and just pushed the button for the trunk. On the flip side, it sounds incredibly inconvenient to have to find one key to unlock the door, then fumble around again to find a different key for the ignition.
We had a split key ring that had the square key on one side and the round key on the other. We could separate and start the car to warm and defrost the windows then lock the doors while the car warmed and go back inside.
Even in the age of a single remote/key, I use a split keychain. A house key goes on the second ring, so I can run inside the house to get something and not have to shut the car off. My older GM car, the second ring has the door/trunk key and a house key.
Personally I really dislike this reliance on electronic things. Imho there was nothing wrong with mechanical/ manual window cranks,turn keys,radio etc. Cars got loaded up with sensors and computers but they also got a lot more expensive to buy,keep and fix when necessary.
Volvo Amazon's had three keys, door, ignition and fuel cap. Gm Australia with the Commodore supplied two keys till the ve in 2006, one for the glovebox.
One for the trunk and one for the the two front doors. Had an older 95 Taurus that’s what they were for. Now they just have 1 key that opens everything
My dad used to drive a lumina back in 2000s and that has two keys and AAA used to offer those credit card keys and my dad has one on all of his cars back in the 90s
Yup my Foxbody has a big round key for the doors and a little square one for the ignition, factory keys have the ford logo on one side and family of fine cars on the other….I got a new set made with the ford logo on one side and a running horse logo on the other….based AF
More than half of the vehicles I've ever owned (or currently own) use the two-key system. 1996 Lumina/1993 Chevy G30/1979 Porsche 928/1987 Yugo/1991 Ford F250/1981 Kawasaki/1988 Grand Voyager/1989 Plymouth Reliant.
I remember seeing cars like this as a tiny kid. My parents would sometimes loose one key all the time… The first thing I thought as a 6 year old was “why not just make one key that has access to the entire car?”
Why cars used to be so simple. And the lack of legitimate cheap car options would be interesting ideas for the series. It’s crazy to me that so many “base models” have a ton of technology and end up starting close to 30k. Not very budget friendly.
My wife's car is an Oldsmobile, it uses the GM two-key system. Every time I try to unlock her car, I end up accidentally jamming the ignition key into the door lock. I'm so used to using one key for everything on a car, which is what my Dodge uses.
Her late grandpa taught her how to drive, and got her hooked on old cars. I like old cars too, but I still fumble the keys every time. Her previous car was a Buick, and had the same GM key set-up.
The Ford reversible key did not do away with the 2 key system. I had 2 keys in an 89 Merc. Sable, a 95 Merc. Sable and a 92 F150. I've had 2 keyed reversible Ford products all the way back to the mid 60s.
The first cars I drove were Chrysler products, and I remember the ignition key also unlocking the doors, but the second (round) key unlocked the trunk. If Chrysler followed the same path as GM with 2 keys, my memory is wrong. Who remembers?
I vaguely recall that my ‘85 Chrysler Laser used the pentagonal-head key for ignition/doors (appropriate for a valet), and the round-head key was for glovebox & trunk/hatch. That seems like the best system if you’ll actually use a valet (and if it’s the era before remote-start and pushbutton ignition)..
Except for Teslas and possibly some of the newest EVs, I've never seen a car without a backup key hole on the driver's door. The fobs have passive RFID to start the car by holding it over the starter button or a certain spot.
@@bwofficial1776 Sadly there’s probably many manufacturers thinking about it. Looks cool and is cheaper! No reason to cut keys and so on, like touchscreens are cheaper and simpler to install then physical controls.
We've been a GM family for generations now. I recently bought my neighbor's 1998 DeVille. Two sets of double keys...one set gold. My daughter is learning to drive in this car.
On older GM cars a valet COULD lock your car door. Just push the interior lock button down and close the door.😳 This "feature" also allowed the owner/driver to lock THEMSELVES out of the car with the key STILL in the ignition. (Ask me how I know...🤦♂) I used to only buy wallets with spare key pockets for this reason. 😜
They used two keys as a theft deterrent. On GM cars, if someone else had your door key, no one could get into the car if they only had the key to start the ignition. If someone else had the ignition key, no one could get into the car to start it. Chrysler cars had the same key for the doors and ignition, but a different key for the glove box and trunk. This way no one could get your registration or the stuff in your trunk - but they could still steal your car - it doesn't make quite as much sense. If you ask me, I don't understand why they ever went to one key for a car that worked everything. The old way made more sense. Of course now it's different where you have a key fob for everything.
Iv owned cars with separate keys..ironically both were 90s GM cars..my old 1990 Buick Century and my current 1992 Oldsmobile 98. My Grand Prix only had one key. It was a 2001
You said Ford got rid of it in the 1960's not at all had an 84 LTD LX and had a round door key and squire ignition keys. Still remember those Fine Family of Cars stamped on the back.
My first car was a 90 Buick Electra Park Avenue with 2 keys. I remember one time i couldn't unlock the door bc i was using the wrong key & getting frustrated bc it was midnight after a shift. After 15mins i snapped, used the other key & unlocked it 😑
And yes ! what about the glove box & Armrests that used to use keys to unlock them? i guess they don't want you to put anything valuable inside these days ?
