Let’s face it, I am the all seeing, all knowing, all telling guru when it comes to all things parking. Here is another bit of proof. Back in November, Matt Fegins of Walter P Moore in Houston, with tongue firmly planted in cheek, wrote in PT about the value of switching to a Segway two wheel personal transporter. He listed all the benefits, many of which revolved (pun intended) around garages for Segways and how much easier they would be to build. I thought the article was on the mark and of course we printed it. You can read it here
Now, GM in Germany has come up with a new car, the Opel Flexstream, which has two Segways built in. You can read that article here. The idea is that you can park on the edge of town and then take your Segway into the central city. The gizmos (2) fit in a special compartment and are charged by your car when you drive. Neat, huh? Buy a car and get two modes of transportation for the price of one.
I would, along with Matt, like to take credit for the idea and spreading it to the automotive world, but the numbers just don’t pan out. It takes the automobile industry about 3 years to design and build a new car. This one came out this month at the Frankfort Auto Show. That means the germ of the idea had to be in 2004. A bit before our article. However, there is absolutely no question that Matt’s concept was original and that PT’s (read that my) cutting edge editorial sense to print it led the market in knowledge of the concept.
Ahhh, I sit here basking in the glory of prescient knowledge.
Remember — if you want to know about it months, maybe even years before it happens, read this blog, and PT, regularly.
You humble servant
JVH
PS — Matt returns to PT in November with his personal Lexicon of Parking. Subtlety is not his forte. You will love it.
