My neighbor’s mad parking skillz!
└ posted on Sunday, 30 June 2013, by Novil
As you can see, my parent’s neighbor has some truly impressive parking skillz. He parks like that all the time and apparently without any trouble according to my mother. As a rather mediocre driver this is almost incomprehensible to me.
Click on the thumbnails to see the a large version of each photo.
 |
 |
 |
Been there, done that. I actually manage to park that close to a wall too. The distance between my right mirror and the wall is so thin, I can’t put my finger in-between.
Yes, it requires some great skills, especially the skill to drive your car straight backwards. 🙂
He also never has a passenger.
That’s some pretty good parking, though I can’t picture the side of their car looking anything but scratched to all hell.
I wondered how he got out, until I remembered that you lot drive on the right 🙂
@ maarvarq:
Of course, if you don’t have enough room on either side to open a door, the trunk is always a good option.
Note the “Custom” Two tone paint job…. I bet the original White front clip got bashed to hell learning those “Mad Parking Skillz” 🙂 OTOH, that could be to confuse the witnesses at the scene of an accident 🙂
I worked at a factory where the loading dock was at the end of a narrow alley and then a hook left. Some truck drivers (18 wheelers) took 45 minutes to park so crooked it was dangerous to drive a forklift over the loading ramp. There were a few that just backed right up, one try, straight in.
@ maarvarq:
Exactly my thought. I don’t see a sunroof/moonroof on that thing…
I thought I wouldn’t be the first to comment on the relation between the parking habits and the different panel colours. 🙂
To those who wonder how he gets out: yes, in Germany they drive on the right-hand side of the road. For that reason, the steering wheel is On The Left.
@ Peter Huppertz:
One, it’s possible the horrible driver was the /previous/ owner of the car – we can’t see the side of the car (or the wall) for any tell-tale scrapes or dents.
You can get a banged up car for cheap – especially if it also has a mechanical issue like clutch or transmission, or failed a required safety inspection… Spend a little to fix the drivetrain, locate and replace the front clip on it, get it approved again. And just drive it. Costs MUCH less to keep a car going than to buy new.
Two, if it doesn’t have a center console it’s very easy to slide over and get out the opposite side door. (Well, if you don’t have a big pile of junk on the passenger seat it is…)
Maybe a little off-topic, but his car makes me think of a pokeball.
Man, every time I see pictures of neighborhoods in Germany I just get the biggest pang of missing Baden-Baden. 🙁 I will return some day, I hope!
I’m a trucker, I am asked to park a rather large vehicle in some impossibly tight spaces. It can be done by anybody, you just have to go slow and pay attension. I should start taking pictures of some of the places I park in. I know one spot that I have to fold in my mirrors to back a 53′ trailer into.
@ Dahliar:
i’m a retired trucker, and i agree, i’ve put trailers into some tight spots, just take your time and keep an eye on your mirrors, and don’t try to be a “cowboy”
In the US we call cars like that ‘Hoopties’. Or we did in the 90s. :p
As for the parking job, having witnessed someone parallel park a full size school bus in one try in a spot maybe six inches longer than the bus itself, I believe in parking miracles.
I have to park pretty close in my garage because of how much “small” cars have bloated in the last few years (a Clio III barely fits in the same space that once held a Megane I), often gently touching the mirror against the wall, and I think I can say with some confidence that the lower right hand of that Golf is probably scratched all to hell from rubbing up against the bit of wall that’s jutting out. But, it’s an old one, and the front end has already been replaced with whatever panels were available rather than matching ones, so they probably don’t care so long as it gets through the TUV. The engines won’t pass regulation to be allowed into inner cities soon enough anyway.
(All assuming you’re in Germany…)
If they’re doing that WITHOUT scratching up the passenger side, then I am truly impressed. There can’t be more than a millimetre or two’s clearance there. It’s not difficult to park a car with 3-4cm of accuracy, but 0.1-0.2… is something else.
I’d have my car repainted a zillion times if it was me…
On the third photo you can see that you neigbour cracked the wall; he must be Juck Norris! 😉
Somehow, the photos remined me that you live in Swabia…
I knew a guy who can park that way without even slowing down. He comes in fast, turns the car 45 degrees into a vary narrow spot, and parks it perfectly! He never slows down, nor moves back and forth, and he makes it look so effortless, like he was born behind the wheel. Damn, I always hated him for that – mostly because I wish I could park that way too – and that cocky bastard knew it! =(
There needs to be a picture from farther back. We don’t see how much space is on the left side of the car.
Is there 2 feet of space on the driver’s side, or 20?
Been there, done that. Had to go slow on the first month, and touched the wall with my mirror a couple times, but nowadays I park fairly fast (no back and forth movement) with less than half a centimeter clearance.
One of the tricks is how you set your right mirror. Most drivers seem to set it to show quite a bit of the side of the car, which not only reduces the usable field of view, it also results in a crooked view that hampers this kind of maneuvering.
If, on the other hand, you set your right mirror to not show the side of the car, you will get an aligned rear view which should allow you to easily back straight into tight spaces.