Evolution of the car key
Imagine parking your car in a shopping mall without looking at it? Such was the condition of the early cars.
They had no locks and were referred to as “horseless carriages” the only way of starting the engine was through the use of a hand crank.
The use of the hand crank possessed so many safety concerns, that there is a risk of the crank handle being thrown back at the driver the moment the engine starts up
The story started changing in the year 1910 when the first type of car key was introduced, the system was further refined with the addition of a start button.
The safety concerns posed by the crank handle were then eliminated, hence with the push of a button the engine starts running.
But this was not enough because hoodlums, under aged individuals, and some other unauthorized individuals can easily press the button and zoom off with someone's car, there was then a pressing need for a locking mechanism.
In 1949, the Chrysler Corporation came up with a brilliant innovation of a key that would start the engine, when inserted into an ignition tumbler.
Letter on Ford went ahead to refine the Chrysler innovation by making the key with cuts on booths sides of the blades.
Ever since then things have grown from good to better in terms of technological sophistication and general increment in the car security systems.
Part of this advancement was the addition of the transponder in keys, making it difficult for fake keys to unlock the car.
So what happens if the transponder goes bad?