Nader’s criticism was correct though most of his details were wrong. The majority of US automakers were totally unconcerned with safety until the government forced it on them.
Hudson was a notable exception. Hydraulic brakes failed OFTEN and SUDDENLY. Hudson’s failsafe braking system, on all Hudsons from 1936 to 1957 except the Jet, solved the problem cheaply and completely. Nobody else ever adopted it. Even Nash didn’t transfer it to its own products after installing it on the Nash-based Hudsons in ’55 to ’57.
Detroit did a bit better on theft security. Several major makers had theft-proof ignition locks. This version was used on all Ford and Nash products from 1934 to 1948. The key pushed a deadbolt into the steering shaft when locked, and allowed the ignition to be switched on or off when unlocked. You could hotwire but it wouldn’t do you any good.
After 1948 nobody bothered. After 1948 all cars were easy to steal.
Hudson didn’t use the Ford/Nash gadget, but tried two different approaches in the ’20s.
A keyed lock was at the base of the shift lever, where it would have been hard to reach and rarely used. The ignition itself was NOT locked:
Some other cars already had a lock in the middle of the ignition switch.
For a few years after 1928 Hudson gave up the transmission lock and used a brute-force method to block hotwiring.
The wires from the key to the distributor were solidly sheathed in flexible armored cable. No way to close the circuit with clips.
Polistra's Mill 