Opening the trunk in old cars

[timbo59]

This is either going to jog a few memories or need someone with older models to tell me the answer.

Did older Fords from 70s and 80s have a release inside, by the driver, for the trunk? I just seem to remember that older cars always needed keys to open the trunk, whether you could access the interior of the car or not - there wasn't any kind of release inside, like there was for the hood.

Can anyone clarify that for me?

[65comet]

I don't remember what year they started the interior release, it wasn't mandatory by law till 2002, I'm pretty sure it was as part of that they started continuing the release on to the interior usually near the driver.
Many a trunk had to have either a call to a lock smith or a pry out of the lock unless the backseat could be removed and there was a straight shot to the lock from inside. The locksmith is self-explanatory.
The pryout/popout was done either if you didn't care about the trunk, first a screwdriver to get some pry motion behind the lock till a crowbar could get a bite then keep going till the lock popped thru the body clip that held it in place. Most of the time there would be damage to the trunk lid. Then a long thin screwdriver would be used to turn the lock as the flat rod from the lock would have. Until they started using an offset lock. Those were started to stop the trunk popping and did a good job of it. So for those it took real damage with a big crowbar just prying the lid, a locksmith or backseat entry.

[Stealthee]

I'm pretty sure Ford started the trunk release buttons in the glove box in the 80's. At least in Mustangs. I can imagine it transferred to other models as well.

[timbo59]

I don't know if it's true or not, but I was told that some of the older locks, 60s and 70s and back, were so basic that over time the mechanisms could get so worn that you could practically use any car key or even a screwdriver to open the trunk. True?

[Stealthee]

That wouldn't shock me. I had a lock mechanism that was froze up on a 93 turbo Talon I had. There is a way you can tear the lock apart and clean everything and put it back together that is supposed to help free it up, but mine was just not budging and I didn't have the time and energy to keep messing with it so we took all the pins out of it. It basically acted like a "worn out lock" at that point and any key would have opened it, but you had to know it was like that.

[timbo59]

You're not helping matters - I need this for a story-line I'm working on. lol

The character needs to break into the trunk of the car without leaving a trace. The first option was simply to use a coathanger to open the door and pop the trunk via the inside release. Then I vaguely recalled that older cars didn't have the feature. Next was the tales I'd heard through the years of older locks being easy to open - now you're trying to shut that door as well. Maybe my next angle will be to see if the back seat can be pulled down on this particular model to give access to the trunk.