The Perfect Parallel Parking And Doing Donuts Were Really Easy In 1927

The early days of automobiles gave birth to a lot of strange ideas that never quite caught on. This one, however, we think merits revisiting.

Oh, parallel parking, that scourge of driving tests. Unless you happen to drive around in a big city often, you may be somewhat out of practice in the skill of parallel parking, since modern suburban parking lots have made it almost obsolete. But when it is necessary, man, is it time-consuming and embarrassing to struggle through as a relative amateur.

We take things like assisted parking for granted these days, but did you know that back in 1927, in Arras France, there was a demonstration of vehicle parking assist?   While not recognized as a Citroën development, the technical features the company introduced over the years with models such as the Traction Avant, DS, and SM, have overshadowed this film clip captured on a Pathé newsreel.

Some have said the car is a Peugeot, but no, – it is a Citroën B12 Torpedo.  Not sure if the 90 degree front wheel modification to demonstrate this parking innovation was something engineered by Citroën or someone else, but the car is definitely a Citroën B12 Torpedo!

Forcing the car to turn like that on its front wheels must have been very hard on rear differential, not to mention the front wheel bearings!  And of course not possible to implement on front wheel drive shafts, so it must have been a novelty that was not pursued by the the company as they planned for the Traction Avant.

Note :The girl may say ‘take me for a spin’ but this is ridiculous. Its a lovely item, comical and the car is very much like the UK children’s programme ‘Brum’.