Is a " Club" of any value in securing a Vintage Speedster for the night in a hotel parking lot ? Other suggestions?
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Bob,
I would say that a "Club" has minimal utility in our replicas. These are unique cars that don't end up in chop shops, so they are not a high value target for professional car thieves. Almost all Speedster replicas are convertibles with tonneau covers that would effectively hide the presence of the "Club" until the thief has opened or cut the tonneau, thus eliminating its deterrent value. Owners are all over the board in security, from not leaving the key in the ignition to fuel pump kill switches, hidden battery switches, GPS locators, proximity alarms, etc.
Not all replica owners are on SOC, but this is the largest Speedster replica organization, and we do have many thousands of members. A reported theft is a very rare occurrence. Buying adequate insurance through one of the leaders in the insurance business, such as Hagerty or Grundy, goes a long way towards lowering the anxiety level for owners regarding theft.
Good preventative practices would include parking in visible spots, as close to your room as possible. I'm sure others who have installed proximity alarms and/or motion detectors will chime in.
A Hell's Angels club would be a help...
Seriously, the advice Jim gives above is good. I've owned four of these cars, and never had a problem with vandalism or theft. Choose a safe parking space where the car is visible.
X2 what Jim said. Just pick a nice spot that doesn't give you door dings. That's more likely to happen over a theft. I don't even use a car cover unless weather calls for heavy rain. This pic is from the from a nice spot I grabbed at hotel next to the River in Perioa (Corn Daze 2 I think)
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Since the steering wheel comes off with 6 or 9 screws, it would only delay theft. Guess that might be enough time to discover perps at work and bring in S&W.
In 6/29/08, (wow, over 8 years ago) 4 new VS cars and 2 complete engines were stolen from Vintage Speedster. Although theft was advertised in many places (356 Registry, Meguiars, Samba, SOC) with a reward, to my knowledge, no leads or recovery was ever made. Being pan based, I assume another pan with new chassis numbers was used to make them registerable for resale. That's well over $100k in theft.
VIN#116751614 - Ruby Red / Tan (Flared Body)
L/P#6E0D712 VIN#3829920 - Ivory / Tan (Classic Body)
VIN#6302263 - Black / Black (Classic Body)
VIN#4711767 - Black / Brown (Classic Body)
Many of us convince the hotel manager to let us park in the front of the hotel under the portico. Puts it in a place where everyone can see it and if there are that many eyes on it nothing should happen.
"Many of us convince the hotel manager to let us park in the front of the hotel under the portico. Puts it in a place where everyone can see it and if there are that many eyes on it nothing should happen."
I've even had that offered when trailering my car between New England and South Carolina. The night clerk would look out and see the car on the trailer and get this dreamy look in his/her eyes and THEN I would ask if there was a safe place to park it. The usual answer was "right there is fine" so I would disconnect and lock the trailer and head for the room, knowing that they would be sitting there watching it all night. Never had a problem. At most, it cost me a coffee and Danish the next morning to thank them.
I never let "unknowns" drive or park it. Whenever I've been to a valet-serviced restaurant, I just pull up and ask, "Where can I put my baby that's safe?" and they usually point to a spot a few feet away and watch it while we eat. Never had to wipe drool off of it either - they watch it like hawks. 
I remember trip towing Speedster South to FL. Stopped near Atlanta GA. Atlanta has become a relatively unsafe place. Stopped early so I could find a pull thru parking space in front of hotel. Of course, Speedster was not licensed nor did I have any insurance on it. No worry of thief starting and driving it off - but they could unhitch and haul away. With as much sleep as I got that night, I could have slept in tow vehicle.
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Having one of these cars can be as bad as having young kids: you always worry about them; always keep an eye on them; and always worry about them suffering some abuse or being stolen. 
Remove the rotor in the dizzy!
Or the coil wire. Often hard to give kids away - the recipient often wants big bucks for you to take them back. Even when they leave home on their own they always seem to come back with both hands out.
Thanks as always for the input. I'll insure it for 70K and leave the keys in the ignition then buy the black one on eBay
I was just speaking about car theft to my wife. She asked if I was concerned about someone stealing the speedster. I laughed. I told her it's not like you easily get in these things and go. Just getting in is more difficult than a "normal" car. If the engine is cold, it's not like you can turn the key and blast away. To which I followed up....that's what always killed me about the movie "Gone in 60 seconds". Every one of those classic cars started the very first time. AND....was able to screeched away. No choke, no pumping the gas pedal a few times, no waiting for the engine to warm up slightly, etc.
There would be far less car jackings is more cars were manual shift!
In Texas the other week a couple of idiots tried to carjack a dude and then shot him when they realized they couldn't drive his whip.
Recently in Hawthorne, CA a would be carjacker/thief assaulted four people outside a Dennys Restaurant. One person ran from the car and the others fought with him. The would be thief was standing in the open doorway so the driver backed up hitting the thief causing him to run away. The thief ran toward another vehicle (supposedly the getaway car according to the anchor person) but it drove away. The victims ran over the thief with their car and the thief shot himself in the head.
Robert M posted:Recently in Hawthorne, CA a would be carjacker/thief assaulted four people outside a Dennys Restaurant. One person ran from the car and the others fought with him. The would be thief was standing in the open doorway so the driver backed up hitting the thief causing him to run away. The thief ran toward another vehicle (supposedly the getaway car according to the anchor person) but it drove away. The victims ran over the thief with their car and the thief shot himself in the head.
I love stories with happy endings.
Found a perfect corner parking spot in a motel parking lot directly in front of my room a few years ago. No chance of anyone parking close enough to ding my driver side door and there was no parking space to worry about on the passenger side.
Woke up in the morning to find that the sprinklers in front and on the passenger side of my car had drenched it overnight. Spent the morning mopping it all up.