The Club is the trademark version trademark of a popular automotive steering wheel lock, produced by Sharon, Pennsylvania-based Winner International. Some claim that inventor James E. Winner Jr. derived the idea for the device from his service in the Korean War, where he and his fellow soldiers were instructed to secure the steering wheels of their Jeeps with metal chains. Others maintain that the club was actually invented by a local police officer, from whom Winner later bought the idea. Those prescribing to the latter view note that the police officer that invented the club can be seen in the original commercial for the product.

The essential design is two pieces. One long piece contains a handle on one end, a hook curved toward the handle in the middle, and a lock on the other end. The second piece is shorter and a little narrower. One end contains a hook like that of the first piece, and the other end fits into the lock on the other piece. When the lock is set, the two pieces are united into one unit.

To use The Club, one fits it into the interior of the vehicle's steering wheel and extends it until the hooks of the unit catch the inside of the steering wheel's rim. The unit is then locked and the key removed. Secured this way, the handle of the unit becomes a physical obstruction that collides with nearby parts of the car's interior when the steering wheel is turned, making the steering wheel practically impossible to use and a stolen car similarly impossible to drive safely as long as the unit is in place.

The Club as originally design was prone to having its lock shattered by freezing with freon (later models address this issue). The most grievous flaw in the design is an inherent flaw of the design--thieves can defeat this type of lock by cutting away part the steering wheel's rim, allowing the device to be removed regardless of its state.

Locks