A Few Notable Keys

The 1934 Chevrolet and Buick keys at right have a small T at the top which contains the key code. It was the intent of the manufacturer that this T be broken off by the consumer and retained for further use as necessary. Apparently this information did not trickle down to the owner of the Buick, as the wear on the key indicates many years of use with that pesky T remaining un-broken.

GM for 1935 to 1965

The three GM keys all have the same keyway, the Briggs & Stratton groove 15. The primary difference between the first two keys is the length of the grooves. In 1949 GM introduced the pushbutton handle with the key entering the pushbutton. This required the lengthening of the grooves. The large head key for the Cadillac 60 had been a mystery to us for some time. It had been described in the Reed Code Book as being used for the 1940 Buick. This may be, but we have determined its first use was for the 1938 Cadillac 60.

GM Double-Sided Key

The GM double-sided key in the second row is a mystery. It was seen on e-bay in 2009 with a GM locking gas cap. The key head has the appearance of an OEM secondary key of the 1935 - 1965 era. We have never seen any reference to a GM double-sided key for that time period. It is possible that this is a fantasy key. The gas cap with key sold for over $200.

Hurd Flying Wing Keys

The Hurd Flying Wing keys for Ford are not very common. These types of keys with the Ford logo seem even rarer. Pictures appear in the Key Blanks section of H Hoffman catalog 49A

Briggs & Stratton Air Metal Keys

Briggs & Stratton introduced their aluminum key blanks as Air Metal. They were available in the three colors shown as well as the natural silver color.

Briggs & Stratton Chrome Keys

Let us be very honest here. We do not really know if these keys are chrome, however they are very unusual. They are heavily plated, so much so that much of the detail in the key head is lost. Additionally, rather than just the numeric groove indicator usually associated with Briggs & Stratton replacement keys, the numbers are prefixed with "NO"as in NO 1, NO 3 and NO 5.

Yale Omega Key

The Yale Omega lock was introduced in 1933 for Chrysler products. The keyway was the same for Chrysler, Dodge, De Soto, and Plymouth, but the keys were not originally interchangable, as each style had the shoulder placed differently. Similar keys were used in 1934, butwere not interchangeable with the 1933 keys.