Perhaps what sets The Systema apart from most traditional martial arts is it’s practicality. It’s usefulness in real life scenarios. One of my favorite seminars Vladimir taught several years back was "Defense in a car". This is practical because many of us spend lots of time in cars and other vehicles.
In Helicopter school, once a day, we do a DI (daily inspection). This inspection covers some 150 critical points of the aircraft. Before each flight pilots do a "walk around". This is common practice to make sure the blades didn’t hit anything during flight, the landing gear is in good shape, nothing got hooked when you landed, skids are free from any lines that might hinder your next take off and so on.
But we spend far more time in cars. Only rarely do most perform a "walk around" your vehicle before we hop in and assume everything will be fine. What we should do is walk around, make sure the tires are inflated properly, that there is no debris nearby , that the light s work etc.
Ok, the following may start sounding paranoid but hey, these are Systema teachings. Depending on the line of work you are in and where you live, this might be very practical. Some was from a bodyguard seminar that Vladimir taught and some of it was also from a bodyguard defensive driving course used by chauffeurs to the President of the US. (Don't ask where I learned it).

Getting in the car, Vlad showed how you should have your keys in your hand (we’ll discuss this later). A quick walk around the vehicle if you suspect anything or if you are in a situation that may warrant a close look.
What are you looking for? Wires, cuttings of wires, the plastic that is stripped from the ends of wires, duct tape, packages, even a paper bag that may have been used for carrying incendiary devices to the site ANYTHING that may look suspicious. If someone was in a hurry to booby trap your vehicle, they may have become sloppy and left some tell tale signs such as this around or about the vehicle.
You may (if you are so inclined) want to study the smell of various explosives although the new stuff (so I heard) is so odorless, even bomb sniffing dogs can’t pick it up.
So your pretty sure there is nothing attached to your vehicle? If you are really paranoid, you will have to check under the hood, in the trunk etc. Lets assume you’ve exhausted all those avenues. You get in the car, go to start it, and it doesn’t start like it usually does. Did you leave a light on inside? Is it so cold that it’s hard to start? If not, perhaps something else is drawing power from the battery?? Such draw could be some type of device attached to your power source. Usually the motor turns slow, like the battery is near dead. However by this point if you kept attempting to start it, you probably would be too. Consider yourself lucky if you noticed right away and were able to abort start up one the first slow crank.
Ok, enough about incendiary devices. Not many use them in Canada anyway - here, they just raise your taxes and the gas prices so you cannot afford to run a car!
There are many ways that you can be attacked around vehicles. In the underground parking lot, surface lot, they hide behind another car, or under your vehicle - especially with high ground clearance vehicles like SUVs.
Back to entry again, I assume you locked the car before leaving? You are about to get back into the vehicle. You look it the back seat to make sure no one is there. Say you missed him. You hop in the car as you would on any day. Suddenly, a rope is thrown over your neck from the back seat and tightened! First you go into shock (if you don't have some training). You only have a few minutes before blood and oxygen are stopped from reaching your brain. What do you do?
Vlad shows this perfectly in his video, Defense in a Car . First buy yourself some time by turning your head and pushing your fingers up along your throat. Turning your head moves the trachea to the side where the rope has less pressure. Next best thing, hopefully your car has one of those plastic levers on the side that allow the backrest to decline. Dump it! You go backwards toward the attacker, pinning his legs with your seat back and relieving some pressure on your neck as the rope slides upward toward your chin. Now you can push your fingers over your face and head to release the rope.
Remember before when you had your keys in you hand before getting into the car? Throw them in the attacker’s face. This wil for sure, gain you a few seconds to release the rope. If they are in the ignition, turn the car off and throw them (or anything else you have handy – see improvised weapons article).
Now to deal with this idiot that got himself into your car in the first place! Drag his arms forward, over the seat back or over your shoulder and bingo, arm lock! Break it if you can. If you cannot, break some fingers. Pull them apart like wishbones on Thanksgiving (thank you for giving me your fingers) I mean this guy is a pest so don't worry about him. (like you would at this point!?). If you can pull his head close enough to you, twist it over the seat back or your shoulder. If he’s a real pest with weapons, poke his eyes, fishhook his mouth put his face down over the seatback and lean your upper body weight on the back of his neck to choke him.

If you have improvised weapons, use them. Eg pen to critical areas you know where they are etc. Note, you DON'T have to do ALL of these to the guy. I mean he probably only wanted your car right? Most cars are worth more on an insurance claim than they are in market value.
What about getting the guy out of your car? Say, you didn’t lock the car, you go to watch a movie and by the time you get back, there’s buddy sitting in the driver seat. If the window is open, grab his arm and lock it backward against the window opening (bottom, side top whatever). If his hands are on the wheel, grab a finger and you have control. If you can’t open his hand,use your knuckles in his tendons on the back of his hand. It will open. From there you can wrist lock him, elbow lock etc.
If you can open the door, first kick him, next, a real good one, pull his closest knee out of the seat and SIT ON IT! This is VERY painful to the hips and thighs! Use an arm to lever him out, levering it back against the door pillar. Or twist his face away from you and drag his head backward out of the vehicle (careful you don't break it on the way out!)
There’s literally infinite number of possibilities here. These are just a few. His arms are locked holding the wheel. Kick his elbow. In fact, just a strong precise push at the joint will either break it or cause his hand to go inside the steering wheel, from which point you can manipulate the arm to become tied in the wheel and you can commence to break it from there (this all happens pretty quickly).
What about that seatbelt? "Seatbelts save lives". Mainly YOURS. Whether he wearing it or not, you can wrap it around his neck quite easily which gives you the "upper hand".

You might be driving when the attack comes. If he's behind you, jamming the brakes will bring his head to you. If you have a belt and he doesn’t and its life and death, take the telephone pole! If you are in traffic, start driving like a maniac, swerving etc. Soon the cops will come! (that’s why we pay taxes).
Use the seat back again, trap his arm behind you back. A slight twist of his arm, you can sit on it, locking him or breaking him. If you are stopped, force his arm back across his seat (side).
Use the steering wheel to trap his forearm while you twist his neck the opposite direction.
Avert a stab by parrying it upward to the roof or foreword to the dash.
A gun to the head is more critical due to a recent survey of ballistics testing. If he’s beside you, hit the brakes. As the gun moves forward, grab it with left hand, and with your arm around the back of his neck, grab his chin. Now you can move in front of his face with. Move your arm over his head pulling the gun hand up which is now close to your door. Now you have an arm lock.

If he’s wearing a hat or a headdress, pull it over their eyes. Use their tie to choke them with. If you don't have a pen, borrow theirs to stab them with. Keys across the face are also effective. If you suspect something about to go down, push in your cigarette lighter he, he, he!
Remember, in any case, there will be "what ifs". Let me tell you, there will always be "what ifs" in life!! Next time we will talk about if the threat comes from outside the car with some tips on defensive driving.
Stay safe!