“The 1932 Car Parking Machine – A vertical elevator is the very latest idea to overcome that City Car Parking difficulty.”
The machine takes up the same amount of space on the ground as six cars, and stretches high into the sky, holding a total of 48 cars.
Chicago, United States of America.
Various shots show an amazing automatic car parking machine. A car is driven into a compartment at the base of the machine. There are numerous compartments in the machine, and they are moving constantly in a vertical direction, like a car elevator. The machine takes up the same amount of space on the ground as six cars, and stretches high into the sky, holding a total of 48 cars.
Someone comes to pick up their car; the attendant turns a dial and the compartments are rotated to bring the man’s car down to the bottom. Additionally, another attendant backs the car out of the compartment for the owner.
A new vertical car park installed in Chicago in United States
There is a film titled ‘Vertical Auto Park solves problem of windy city’. It shows cars being driven in cages on conveyors that rise in a ferries wheel like manner in Chicago in United States. People look on as cars are carried by a 105 foot-high elevator that parks 48 cars in an area of 16 by 24 feet. Location: Chicago Illinois. Date: April 25, 1932.
Many of you may have seen the photo at the bottom of this post. Furthermore, it has been floating around the internet in the last few years showing the vertical parking lot. We are fortunate to find the British Pathé News Reel film seen above, which finally demonstrates it in action for us. Moreover, the Vertical Automatic Parking Lot was developed by the Westinghouse Electric Company and first tested in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania before being set up as a commercial enterprise in the Chicago Loop during 1932 . You can see it work and hear a full explanation of it’s operation in the film.
Just above in the first two thumbnails are the full details of a test. It has been published in the January, 1932 issue of the Everyday Science and Mechanics. On the right, above, is an Ohio inventor’s proposal for a revolving circular steel tower designed along the same principal as a Lazy Susan. Cars were to be raised to the proper height on a vertical elevator set up on the side of the revolving floors. In addition, both articles are courtesy of Modern Mechanix. In addition, view a much smaller and later plan called Sky Parking here on The Old Motor.
