Parking is one of those unfortunate tasks that accompanies the fun of driving. Whether it’s circling for open spaces, dealing with ornery/incompetent drivers, paying exorbitant prices, of fending off door dings, parking is fraught with peril. Yet we have no choice but to endure any number of indignities that come with securing real estate for something that’s dear to you but seen by the majority of the public as a nuisance at best. This QotW was inspired by a garage that checked your entry and departure by license plate, yet failed to read ours, sending us on a Sisyphean side quest of negative net value.
What’s your craziest car parking story?
The most entertaining comment by next week will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What’s the greatest Japanese luxury sedan?“.
Not surprisingly Toyotas took the, uh, crown when it came to top luxury sedans. That doesn’t mean other marques were shut out. Nissan held its own with Lupus‘s ode to the C31 Laurel, Taylor C.‘s fond memories of a Nissan Maxima, and Kyuusha Corner‘s reminder of the Prince Royal’s existence.
Mazdas also had their supporters, with daniel selecting the tech -laden Eunos Cosmo and Franxou showing us how his pic for the Mazda Type-GA is all about context,
Toyota has strong pull and it’s no surprise the Century was nominated by BlitzPig and Alan. TheJWT opted for its smaller brother, the Crown. Even the Corolla got an excellent shoutout from dankan, who interpreted luxury as the securirty in knowing it’ll start every time.
The winner last week was KMMinLaPlata, who detailed the differences in the Camry sold abroad:
The definition of luxury has changed over the decades. After 1930, mass produced luxury takes over as coachbuilt luxury cars were viewed as gauche during the Great Depression so you see factory bodied Cadillacs, Lincolns, Packards and higher trim Buicks and Chryslers taking over. They had power and technology, luxury, space and cigarette lighters in every ashtray because everyone smoked, making that the US luxury market from 1935 to 1985. German cars were about performance and vault like build quality and British cars were leather and wood and lambs wool carpeting (nothing smells as good as a Rolls Royce leather interior- that scent should be bottled and sold as a cologne).
Japanese luxury cars took all of that to heart but each manufacturer took a different path. Acura was all about Honda racing performance while Infiniti was the zen experience. Nissan had the 4 door sports car in the Maxima, Honda had the V6 Accord, Toyota had the Avalon, Mazda had the Millenia and the 929 while Mitsubishi had the technology laden Galant and then the Diamante. Lexus is, perhaps, the quintessential luxury car as the LS and the ES embrace the quiet, comfortable, technologically advanced climate controlled ride that we expect from a luxury car so you would think my answer would be the Lexus LS sedan. It meets all that criteria. However, the eccentric side of me would argue that quintessential luxury car is the Asian Market Toyota Camry. Power rear sunshade in the back window, shades in the rear doors, a reclining rear seat, and a control panel to adjust the rear climate control or change the music on the sound system and the boss seat buttons on the front passenger seat to give that rear seat passenger more room so you ride in discrete, chauffeur-driven luxury through the streets of Kulala Lumpur, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, Phnom Penh, or Bangkok. If only we could get those features in US Market Camrys but I suppose one can dream.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
Omedetou, your comment has earned you a set of decals from the JNC Shop!
In 1990s my friend had a 2nd generation of Toyota Camry, it was a silver color. He was at the local supermarket parking lot, open a door of a silver color Camry and drove home, After he pulled in his home driveway, he recognized that was not his own Camry. He went back the supermarket parking lot, left the car and drove his own one home. My other friends often insisted this would never happen. But it did happen on this guy.
Parking for our teeny smart Car cabriolet was always simple, not even a BMW Isetta (the Urkel-mobile) was a match. Nevertheless, when my wife and I drove to Charleston, WV to attend a hunting and outdoors expo that had displays of wild animals, including an American Eagle and other examples. We didn’t get up there quite in time to get parking, the attendant said the lot was full. Spying a blank area between lamp posts, I asked “If I get my car up there (there being no curb but a dip on both sides), can I park it?” “Buddy,” he said, “If you can park it there, It’s free!” So, without much problem, I parked our little smart Car on that strip of concrete, locked up and, we enjoyed the expo … seeing an American Eagle in flight, inside the arena was breathtaking! So was the saving of $35.00 for parking!
Going back many moons, I sold books to the bookshops for my parents’ business in a Toyota Lite Ace van – small, but perky, solid and reliable (which coincidentally kinda also describes yours truly).
Late one afternoon, I was a tad late for my last delivery to a shop within a central arcade in Perth city and made it there with the minimum spare time to make the delivery. The car park was directly beneath the arcade and apart from a rather narrow and steep entrance ramp down into the dimly-lit cavern, its daytime custodian was a very officious looking chap in uniform, with associated attitude and a more-than-passing resemblance to a certain British actor from the 1950s who had a tendency towards playing the role of men with extended sharp teeth after dark. He told me in no uncertain terms that it was “close to closing time”, to which I pleaded with him that I’d only be five minutes and I’d be right out again. He nodded “ok” – and off I zipped, heavy box of books in arms. True to my word, I was back to the van in FOUR minutes – but upon my return, I noticed the carpark looked even more spooky than when I entered, that being due to the fact that the accommodating fellow had bolted, turning the lights down to a minimum and locking the considerable steel roller door at what was now the very top of the exit ramp in the process (probably laughing his head off, to regale the hilarious episode to his mates at the pub he was possibly so desperate to get to that evening). I staved off my rage and started thinking….. I walked up the ramp and exited through the staff exit door next to the roller door and looked around outside. Spotting a switchboard door, I was very glad to see that it wasn’t locked so perused the array of switchgear on the board. As a qualified electrician, I soon recognised the correct switch, but also noted that it was secured by a locking device to deter tampering. Not to be deterred, after returning from my van with tool kit in hand, I proceeded to remove the whole switch box from the board and from behind shorted the correct terminals – and Lo and Behold, the door rose to fully open. From there it was drive out, park, close the roller door again and return the switchboard to original state, thereby leaving one helluva mystery for this chap the following morning! Would just LOVE to have been a fly on the wall when he walked down that ramp!