car collector John Chapman lost more than 175 cars in the Texas wildfires... including a Shelby Cobra

found on http://www.oldcarsweekly.com/news/hobby-news/collectors-175-cars-including-shelby-cobra-lost-in-texas-wildfires that links to the info from http://www.chron.com/news/article/Bastrop-wildfires-destroy-1-000-plus-homes-2157848.php#photo-1578531
photo by Eric Gay

a 1917 car insurance pamphlet excerpts

 the above has some offensive, bizarre, and obsolete info to offer as advice. Put on bumpers? Leave the lights on when parked at night?

http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/?facet=Subject=Autos%20and%20Roads

Why isn't your car insurance company lowering your rates on the theft portion or your premiums?

Now that the cops in the US and Canada have license plate recognition software that instantly identifies stolen cars http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2011/03/automatic-license-plate-recognition.html

And now that LoJack has a 90% return success rate http://www.lojack.com/why/pages/theft-facts.aspx plus the chop shops and car theft organizations shut down because LoJack claims to have led cops to the stolen cars... well, good.

So with all this focus and recovery on stolen cars, car insurance payouts would logically be less, and if they pay out less, they would logically be charging us less. But they aren't

Sports and muscle cars are a better investment than the stock market

Hagerty's is a really cool car insurance company, this was part of their newsletter. Click on it to make it full size and easier to see what the various colored lines represent, and what cars comprise the group that the blue line that is out outperforming the stock market

"Why car thieves love a '94 Honda Accord" from Insure.com, a good look at the stolen car issue

The most stolen vehicles:

1. 1994 Honda Accord
2. 1995 Honda Civic
3. 1991 Toyota Camry
4. 1997 Ford F-150 Pickup
5. 2004 Dodge Ram Pickup
6. 2000 Dodge Caravan
7. 1994 Chevrolet pickup (full size)
8. 1994 Acura Integra
9. 2002 Ford Explorer
10. 2009 Toyota Corolla
Source: NICB, based on car thefts in 2009

Older cars tend to be popular targets. In addition to supplying in-demand parts, these older cars are:

•Easier to steal. Car manufacturers in recent years have added many theft deterrents that older models don't have.
•Not as likely to have after-market security devices, such as warning, tracking and disabling devices.

Metropolitan areas with the highest vehicle theft rates

1. Laredo, Texas
2. Modesto, Calif.
3. Bakersfield, Calif.
4. Stockton, Calif.
5. Fresno, Calif.
6. Yakima, Wash.
7. San Francisco/Oakland/Fremont, Calif.
8. Visalia/Porterville, Calif.
9. Las Vegas/Paradise, Nev.
10. Albuquerque, NM

Source: NICB, based on car thefts in 2009

Read the whole article to be better informed about car theft:
http://www.insure.com/car-insurance/most-stolen-cars-2010.html