That may not be the case, but I am old enough to have been practicing law when car theft was punishable by a minimum prison term. I know that things have changed.
I was particularly surprised by section 335 or its equivalent. I was under the impression that taking a motor vehicle without the owner's permission and depriving the owner of his property, as in the case of joy-riding, was still theft. What justifies section 335? It creates the specific crime of motor vehicle theft. When I was a young lawyer, I was told that it was a charge used in order to avoid a minimum sentence. I don't remember what that sentence was.
You seem to be younger than me. Do you remember when the minimum sentence for car theft was abolished?