-24F day in Detroit in January of what year, '92?
Was that in '92 when the temp dropped to something like -24F in January. I seem to recall the high being around -5F that day. What day in January was it, around the 22nd? I was living in Corktown and walked over to Nemo's just to experience how awful it was outside. I think I drove over to Jacoby's restaurant for chow later that afternoon and barely got my car to turn over when I came out.
So, what the day 19 Jan 1994?...
I don't see the date on the You Tube videos. I guess it wasn't really down to -24F. You know how people begin to embellish things.
With older cars, I recommend not locking the doors on below 32F days...
After having to crawl through the hatchback opening once when the doors wouldn't unlock, I left the doors unlocked. If the doors are frozen shut but the locks are open, a couple of gentle body slams against the doors usually does the trick. Also, if you wash your car in winter, it might help to do it earlier in the day when you might drive it around a bit. That might help to dissipate the moisture around the door seals and locking mechanism.
After having car doors freeze up a few times on winter days, one learns to improvise.