World’s Tightest Parallel Parking Records

World’s Tightest Parallel Parking Record Broken In China on November 14, 2014 (Source: motorbeam.com)

In some countries, the test for parallel parking is the hardest part of getting a license to drive a vehicle. Even for the most experienced drivers, parallel parking might not be the easiest of all manoeuvres. Now, in some cases, electronic gadgets takeover much of the work and help the drivers in parallel parking.

In recent years, one of the most popular Guinness World Record has been the hotly contested “tightest parallel parking” title. In this high-speed parking contest, the drivers accelerate their vehicle towards the space between two parked cars and veer sideways into the spot. They use only the hand-brake and the steering wheel to glide their vehicle into a space with just a few inches longer than their vehicle.

Records are set to be broken. During the last four years, the record for “tightest parallel parking” has changed hands many times.

German stunt driver Ronny Wechselberger aka Ronny C' Rock (Source: legend.az/) — German stunt driver Ronny Wechselberger aka Ronny C’ Rock (Source: legend.az)

On April 2, 2011, German stunt driver Ronny Wechselberger aka Ronny C’ Rock achieved the tightest parallel parking record. On the set of the Guinness World Records’ TV show “Wir holen den Rekord nach Deutschland” (“We bring the record to Germany”) in Berlin, he parked a Volkswagen Polo into a space with just 26 cm (10.24 in) to spare.

On July 21, 2011 the Chinese driver Zhang Hua of the Chery Car Stunts Performance Team bettered Ronny C’ Rock’s achievement. On the set of Zheng Da Zong Yi-Guinness World Records Special TV show at Zhengzhi Driving School, Linyi City, Shandong Province, China, Zhang Hua drifted his vehicle into a tighter fit. The gap measured only 24 cm (9.45 in) longer than his vehicle.

Patrik Folco, the Italian stunt performer cum precision driver (Source: tvblog.it)

In April 2012 Patrik Folco, the Italian stunt performer cum precision driver, slid his car into a gap measuring just 22 cm (8.66 in) longer than the car he was driving.

Chinese master wheelman Han Yue (Source: shockmansion.com)

A month later, during the third week in May 2012, the Chinese master wheel man Han Yue managed to shave off an incredible 7 cm (2.76 in) from the record. During an attempt at the launch in Beijing of a new special edition of the Mini called The Chinese Job, he drifted into a space of just 15 cm (5.91 in) longer than his vehicle.

On June 18, 2012 at Flugplatz Kindel in Eisenach, Germany, Ronny C’ Rock recaptured the tightest parallel parking record from Han Yue by drifting into a space 14 cm (5.51 in) longer than his car. The feat was recorded for the Guinness World Records’ TV show “Wir holen den Rekord nach Deutschland” (“We bring the record to Germany”). It was aired on RTL2 (Germany).

Ronny used a VW Up with a length of 3.54 m (11 ft 7.37 in). He parked the vehicle into a 3.68-cm-long (12 ft 0.88 in) space, marked by two other Ups. The distance was measured electronically with a laser device as well.

Stunt Drive UK Instructors and Gloucester based brothers Alastair Moffatt (33) and John Moffatt (31) (Source: stuntdriveuk.com)

On December 10, 2012 the Moffatt brothers Alastair and John from Gloucester, UK, beat Ronny Wechselberger’s record measuring 14 cm (5.51 in).

The brothers compete in various forms of motorsport since the age of 8. At that time, they had a combined experience of over 47 years and had won 10 national championships. They are also Master Instructors for Stunt Drive UK, the countries first stunt driving experience day company.

The Moffatt brothers were invited to attempt the tightest parallel parking feat for Guinness World Record as part of a new children’s TV Series called “Officially Amazing.” This show features some of the funniest, most ridiculous, scariest and Amazing record attempts from around the world. It airs on the CBBC Channel and throughout the International BBC Network.

On the set of “Officially Amazing” (Lion TV) in Hereford, UK, the Moffatt brothers driving British vintage Mini Mayfairs successfully pulled off the stunt with just 13.1 cm (5.16 in) to spare between the cars – a gap about 0.72 cm (0.28 in) longer than the length of an iPhone 5 (12.38 cm long).

The younger brother John was the first of the pair to break the record. After a few failures, he drifted his Mini into a space with 13.1 cm (5.16 in) to spare, to enter the history books.

It was then up to Alastair Moffatt to match his brother’s feat. Alastair skidded his car into the same space at 2.40 and equalled his younger brother John’s feat.

The new record was held in joint names as both John and Alastair achieved the 13.1 cm (5 in) gap within 20 minutes of each other.

Alastair was obviously thrilled for John. He said:

“When I achieved the record all I felt was relief, we were running out of light, as filming had taken a huge proportion of the day and I there was only time for 1 or 2 attempts left, so the pressure was on. The fact that we now hold this record jointly is great, as we are very competitive with each other, however, John continually reminds me that he achieved it first!”

In July 2013, Alistair Moffat reduced the gap to an impressive 8.6 cm (3.385 in) which many motoring experts thought unbeatable.

On November 14, 2014 during the “China Drift Championship” held in Chongqing, the Chinese master wheel man Han Yue did the seemingly impossible. He regained the title by setting a new tightest parallel parking record. He drifted his MINI 3-Door Hatch into a space with just 8 cm (3.1 in) to spare between two other cars just like it.