Stealing Cars: Technology & Society from the Model T to the Grand Torino (review)

Book Reviews 123 Orthodox Churches that were supported by local priests and national US-based archbishops. Village-based rivalries became the basis for community divides that came to a head in a lawsuit over the ownership of the Orthodox Church in Grand Rapids which was settled in 1923 in favor of the Aita-Antiochian/Toledo Church. Apparently, the community is still divided according to these church affiliations that align with family origins and friendship circles. Among many other insights in chapter 5, Goode focuses on the small number of Muslims who lived in Grand Rapids and their connections with fellow Syrian Christians. The strength of this work is how it advances our understanding of the ways national and international dynamics play out locally in the lives and institutions of this Arabic-speaking immigrant community. It will assist scholars in the fields of local, Michigan, and US immigration history to better explore issues pertaining to constructions of family, diasporic communities, religion, and ethnicity. Randa A. Kayyali American University John A. Heitmann and Rebecca H. Morales. Stealing Cars: Technology & Society from the Model T to the Grand Torino. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014. Pp. 216. Appendix. Index. Notes. Sources. Cloth, $29.95. Scholars have long recognized the far-reaching impact of the automobile on the history of modern America. In Stealing Cars, John A. Heitmann and Rebecca H. Morales tackle this surprisingly neglected topic, exploring automobile theft since the early twentieth century. Although the book focuses particular attention on the battle between car thieves and anti-theft technology, the authors also discuss fictional depictions of automobile theft, including films and video games. Heitmann and Morales provide a careful description of the development of anti-theft devices (complete with schematic diagrams) and emphasize the connection between trends in automobile theft and efforts to thwart such criminal behavior. Early twentieth-century automobiles presented few obstacles to thieves, but gradually manufacturers, prodded by government regulators and especially the insurance industry, added locks and vehicle identification numbers, installed alarms, and developed other security devices. Entrepreneurs 124 The Michigan Historical Review invented new products as well, such as LoJack and OnStar. The increasing sophistication of anti-theft devices, according to Heitmann and Morales, transformed car stealing in America. Until the 1970s, young “joyriders” committed the lion’s share of automobile thefts, often heisting vehicles that owners left unlocked—frequently with the keys in the ignition. Improved security technology, however, increasingly outwitted young, impulsive thieves. As a consequence, automobile theft changed in two important ways during the late twentieth century. First, the rate of automobile theft plunged. And second, the proportion of cars stolen by professional criminals, often working in organized networks and tied to overseas buyers, spiked. The relationship between automobile theft and wider social currents, however, receives only modest attention in Stealing Cars. Heitmann and Morales argue that technological advances were largely responsible for changing patterns of automobile theft. Such a view assumes that cultural forces had little impact on the shift from joyriding thieves to professional criminals. Perhaps trends in youth culture during the late twentieth century also contributed, robbing joyriding of its cultural cachet. Similarly, although men stole cars at more than one hundred times the rate of women during the post-World War II era, the authors do not explore gender ideals in depth. Likewise, the connection between automobile theft and overall trends in crime might have been analyzed, particularly since the recent drop in automobile theft parallels decreases in serious crime. Moreover, Heitmann and Morales’s discussions of films and video games do not mesh smoothly with their argument; Gone in Sixty Seconds, Gran Torino, and Grand Theft Auto, for example, became wildly popular at a time when the rate of automobile theft plummeted, making these fictionalized depictions curious sources for explaining trends in this particular crime. Finally, Heitmann and Morales frame the topic in national terms. Although this enables the authors to broaden the scope of their analysis, it prevents them from exploring the impact of automobile theft on particular cities, such as Detroit. Even if Heitmann and Morales’s analysis, with its focus on technology, might have devoted more attention to wider social and cultural forces, Stealing Cars fills...