But not the owner of the vehicle, he requested, because "he would not know when to stop".

The lad's idea of a basic corporal punishment-based deterrent belongs to another age - one, in fact, recorded more than 50 years ago in Melbourne and unearthed by The Sunday Age.

It was in November, 1964, that the Report of Committee on Larceny and Illegal Use of Motor Vehicles and Associated Matters was handed to A.G. Rylah, chief secretary of Victoria, by his "obedient servant" L.T.Griffin, stipendiary magistrate.

Chairman Griffin and his committee were appointed in 1962 and among its 176 pages were the thoughts of the teenage "delinquent", then in a youth training centre.

Although completed five, musty decades ago, it resonated with striking relevance earlier this month when Victoria police crime statistics showed that vehicle theft had spiked in the last year - up 19 per cent in 12 months, with 66,216 cars stolen or broken into.

The current deputy commissioner, Lucinda Nolan, said most thefts - which hit a five-year high at more than 17,000 - were committed by joyriders, many of them teenage boys; those who stole to commit other offences; or organised criminals.

However, Griffin's committee disputed the common view that most illegal use involved joyriding. "This term does not reflect the seriousness of the offence," it said.

A police report in 1955-56 broke joyriding down to "cruising, journey, to go home, entertainment and speed" - or a total of 81 per cent of use.

That report found that cars stolen for entertainment included an offender who stated it was to "drink beer obtained from sly grog" or "take his girlfriend out"; others went "for a burn" or simply for the thrill of stealing and driving.

A spate of bayside thefts had ceased, the committee found in another report, when five boys aged between 12 and 15 were charged.

On the night they were arrested, the 12-year-old and an older boy took a Chevrolet with steering column change.

"The younger lad knew how to change gears but could not reach the driving pedals," the committee said, "so the older boy drove the car with the younger one standing behind the steering wheel giving instructions when to throw the clutch so that he could change gears."

What has not changed in 50 years is the popularity of make of car stolen.

In 1961, 3708 Holdens and 443 Fords were stolen. The following year it was 3911 and 529 respectively - a total of only six Goggomobils, five Land Rovers, four Goliaths, three Borgwards, two Datsuns and one Porsche were pinched.

Figures released this month show that in 2012-13 almost 3000 Holdens were stolen and 1697 Fords.

Another consistent factor across the centuries was the high target areas.

The three top spots in 1962 were Footscray (313 cars stolen), Northcote (292) and Brunswick (285). The latest statistics show Melbourne's inner north as a hot spot, along with the adjoining municipalities of Darebin, Hume and Moreland.

Griffin's committee concluded that illegal use and larceny of cars were not increasing faster than other crimes - between 1958 and 1962 the top three major crimes reported involved larceny, breakings and motor vehicles.

"Homicide" was last of nine categories, and no drug-related offences were listed.

The committee made 13 recommendations - including locking devices, penalty changes and "experimental schemes for the treatment of juveniles who are likely to develop delinquent tendencies and of their families" - and highlighted the need for further research and investigation.

It could not say that when publicity highlighted a particular crime, that immediately increased instances of the offence. But it believed the "press and other mass communication media should exercise restraint in the publicity of crime to ensure that the offender and the offence is not given undue importance".

One "outstanding feature" the committee noticed of several hundred case histories of "juveniles" in youth training centres was the "consistent picture of disturbed family relationships".

One of those juveniles, when asked if it helped being locked up, said:"Makes you worse, especially after the first time. Locking up does not change one's attitude."