I'm considering selling my modern project and buying early '70s car. We don't have garage space so it will live in the driveway.
Old cars are not very hard to steal ( break window, slide-hammer column lock, pop in neutral, roll it away.) Other than having a locked building & a herd of hungry pit bulls, what do you do for theft prevention?
Honestly, you can steal anything. Or repo.
Just gotta make it not worth the effort.
When i was working repo, we had a old ramp truck with a fast winch and 4x4. We could snatch any car is less than 5 minutes from any reasonable location.
Sorry.
What he said. From what I've seen, the average person just isn't interested in old cars. Plus, if you get one with a manual transmission, a good portion won't be able to drive it.
I suppose you could put an alarm in it, but just put sensors on the doors/trunk/hood. Aftermarket alarms with proximity or movement sensors just create angry neighbors.
This is how long it takes to snatch a car. If they want it, it's gone.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/B1a6e7JjrLI
Keep the insurance paid up. I'd also consider adding a camera to cover the driveway. It won't stop the determined thief, but it might slow down some of them.
In reply to Toyman01:
That takes me back. The other team ueed that kind of truck on the easy ones. Billy and i never got the easy ones.
Quick release steering wheel?
Which 1970s car do you want to get? If it's a Ferrari, you have concerns. If it's a '72 Dodge Polara, chances are no one will be interested. 
I pull my coil to distributor wire. Does it do anything? I don't know - you tell me. It makes me feel better.
Watched a city of Chicago tow truck nab an s10 parked at a bus stop. Took about 30 seconds for the hook up. S10 was locked so he couldn't put it in neutral. Drug it down the street about 50 yards sliding on the back tires then a loud pop and then it started rolling free. If someone wants it... cameras are your friends if it's not inside.
Manual transmission. Apparently driving a manual is a dying art.
In reply to maj75:
Bonus points if it's column shifted.
Here I know a few guys with a 6" steel pipe that slides into another pipe set in concrete in the driveway right behind where they park the car. There's a loop welded to each just below grade so you can lock it in place and it's hard to get a tool in to cut the lock.
I've done this to more than a few cars:
You need a cigarette lighter assembly and a standard Bosch 5-pin relay. The cig lighter will no longer be functional.
Wire the switched contacts of the relay in series with the "start" wire going to the solenoid.
Supply constant +12v to one side of the relay coil.
Wire the ground side of the relay coil to what would normally be the +12v terminal of the lighter socket.
Now, when you push in the cig lighter, the element in the lighter will pass enough current to ground the relay and allow the start circuit to pass current to the starter solenoid.
When you leave the car somewhere, take the lighter out and put it in your pocket.
-You can't start the car without the lighter pushed in unless you know how to bypass it but anyone who knows that can steal anything they want.
-No-one will ever think that a missing lighter will prevent the car from starting.
-If you lose the lighter somehow, every auto parts store and most gas stations will have a replacement. If they don't, stick a screwdriver in the hole.
We've had a few people with aftermarket EFI set up a switched map feature that sets the fuel table to zero about 100 RPM above idle. The idea is that a starter kill may be obviously a starter kill, but not many thieves will think an anti-theft system would allow the motor to start up and idle. It wouldn't stop a serious thief, but would stop a casual joyrider.
On carbed cars, I've seen concealed valves in the fuel lines, which has a very similar effect. Car starts but won't get far on the gas in the float bowls.
You can install an alarm with an interlock. I guess I wouldn't do that to a rare collectable but I wouldn't park one of those outside either.
stuart in mn wrote: Which 1970s car do you want to get? If it's a Ferrari, you have concerns. If it's a '72 Dodge Polara, chances are no one will be interested.
1970 240Z. With values coming up, I think the thieves will notice. OR... I could change plans a get a Polara. . . Nah! 
In reply to Trans_Maro:
Low-tech & very clever
Car like that they would not necessarily start it to take it. The steel pipe set into the cement behind the car is a nice way to do it.
LuxInterior wrote: Other than having a locked building & a herd of hungry pit bulls, what do you do for theft prevention?
O.P. stated other than in a locked building.
A bollard behind the car is useless outside.
Ultimately, if they want it bad enough they will have a rollback and bolt cutters.
O.P.: All you need to do is make it harder to steal than the one next to it. This isn't rocket surgery.
You will find it difficult to insure with a classic car policy if it's parked outside.
Two thumbs up on your choice.
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