Numerical keypads are most commonly seen as part of Ford’s Securicode system, which lets owners lock and unlock their doors with a keycode.
Long before smartphones could unlock a car, Ford offered a way to access a vehicle without a physical key. The Securicode entry system dates back to 1980 when Lincoln, Ford’s luxury division, debuted it along with remote keyless entry fobs and a small numeric keypad. The feature was also available on the 1980 Ford Thunderbird and would later expand to other Blue Oval models and those from Mercury. The panel was usually positioned horizontally above the driver’s door handle. This was well before proximity keyless entry and that small button on the door handle enabled vehicle entry without pulling out a key.
Later, Ford installed the keypad more discreetly in a vertical position on the B-pillar in some models.
