A Secret Garage
Jan.21, 2010 in
VEHICLE
“Are we going to argue an innovative car today?” No wonder you may thought of that as there’s nothing in the pictures but a cool car. Pity you’ve all guessed wrong, and we’re to show you a creative garage instead. It is a hidden garage, which won’’be easily noticed unless you start the system. After that, as you can see in the pictures below, a garage then appears rightly below the car. Wow, that’s really a surprising way to park your cars and of course will cost you much money if you’d like one.
January 22nd, 2010 at 8:37 pm
Cool! I hope it is rainproof!
January 22nd, 2010 at 9:08 pm
This is fucking hot brah
January 22nd, 2010 at 9:19 pm
Yeeerite
January 22nd, 2010 at 9:40 pm
Okay. What happens when the power goes out and you need to leave for work? A backup power supply or a generator? Very cool but very impractical.
January 22nd, 2010 at 9:43 pm
So how do the car get onto the driveway? Is it hidden below with the garage? That makes its resting place above ground right?
January 22nd, 2010 at 10:01 pm
I hope there’s a pump in the basement garage to expel water that would enter when the garage is opened/elevated during rain (and a UPS to account for power cuts as described by George).
January 22nd, 2010 at 10:09 pm
How about freezing weather? And with no room to open the doors a person could get stuck down there if it malfunctioned. It’s cool. But way too dangerous and impractical.
January 22nd, 2010 at 10:09 pm
The car is BELOW ground, sweet.
January 22nd, 2010 at 10:22 pm
by the looks of the telescoping arms they are hydraulically driven, not electric driven. Hydraulic lifts can be manually controlled with a hand pump (but take FOREVER) and therefore don’t require a constant form of electricity to drive the hydraulic pumps. For example, think of hand-pumped carjacks for road-side tire changes.
Also, any sort of proper rubber edging on the upper platform (driveway?) can form a perfectly good seal to prevent water seepage (think rubber gasket).
January 22nd, 2010 at 10:22 pm
Wow…that is too cool! How much? Article doesn’t specify a cost but I think I could swing it.
January 22nd, 2010 at 10:32 pm
It is at a rich person’s house who would have enough money to have a sump pump and emergency power. It is not meant for normal people but for people with money to burn. Get a grip, you do not need to criticize everything that is out of your price range! The garage is no less impractical than having the German sports car! I doubt this is to get to work in, it is to get puss in, and the sunken garage would probably get you an extra bj.
January 22nd, 2010 at 10:52 pm
>Okay. What happens when the power goes out and you need to leave for work? A backup power supply or a generator? Very cool but very impractical.
Simple way around that use stored energy (springs/counterweights) to raise it, and pneumatics/motor to lower it. That way regardless of power availability you will always be able to park the car. You just won’t be able to lower it.
January 22nd, 2010 at 10:52 pm
Solar panels dont need power idiot
January 22nd, 2010 at 10:56 pm
You get out of the car before you lower it, smart guy.
January 22nd, 2010 at 10:59 pm
Fuck all you haters this thing is the future and it’s baaadass
January 22nd, 2010 at 11:18 pm
I really don’t want to focus on the technical or the practical aspects. I love the idea. Very cool!
January 22nd, 2010 at 11:24 pm
That’s really awesome how the house moves up and down around the car like that
January 22nd, 2010 at 11:56 pm
Freak’in Batman! or Uberbat
January 23rd, 2010 at 12:25 am
yihaaaa awesome xD
January 23rd, 2010 at 12:42 am
now just if there was a garage underground too and you could stay in the car good way of escaping someone
January 23rd, 2010 at 1:18 am
“oooo impractical!” ya, so is a 911… “how does he get out, oh my!” it’s called a basement, really big one from the sounds of it, it’s called a walk-out around the back and this dude probably has a whole shiot load of cars under that ground… this would be the perfect way for me to store my lambos and my rovers… once they make’em more practical that is
January 23rd, 2010 at 1:34 am
lol, I love how people sit behind their desk and criticize something so easily without actually thinking. Do you clowns think the people who built this as well as the owners didn’t think about power problems, weather, etc? It’s not like this is some high school kid’s project.
January 23rd, 2010 at 1:38 am
ENTER THE BATCAVE
January 23rd, 2010 at 2:29 am
However if the power goes you are not going anywhere.
January 23rd, 2010 at 2:31 am
The Idea is cool…
But that only apply for a very rich person…
January 23rd, 2010 at 2:52 am
jfc. how often do you people lose power to even think of that as an issue
January 23rd, 2010 at 2:58 am
To the guy who asked what happens when you need to go to work… If you can afford this, chances are, you don’t need to work that much any more.
January 23rd, 2010 at 3:02 am
Who said there has to be no room down there, maybe theres lots of space for all ten of your cars, including your man cave. If you can drive onto that platform then it shouldn’t be hard to drive off it once you’re down.
January 23rd, 2010 at 4:13 am
i can already imagine a csi episode with this garage and a dead body in the car
January 23rd, 2010 at 4:15 am
i can already imagine a csi episode with a dead body inside the car
January 23rd, 2010 at 4:35 am
I live in Japan and these things are all over. However, they are for parking lots and not home use. Yet
January 23rd, 2010 at 4:45 am
Forget power people, it’s probably gas powered or powered by compressed air.
January 23rd, 2010 at 5:20 am
These are common in Japan – you’ll have 3 or 4 cars on an elevator like this
January 23rd, 2010 at 5:53 am
If the car works, you’ve got power. It would quite viable to make the whole thing go up or down using the car’s tyres as gears, while keeping it from moving like they do in a car-wash.
January 23rd, 2010 at 6:20 am
Plus, it doubles as a tornado shelter!
January 23rd, 2010 at 6:33 am
Whats wrong with you people! That is really cool!
– Is unpractical!!
– What about water!!
– I hope nobody gets stuck!!
– No room!!
– What about cold!!
I never seen so much envy! Its awesome and love both it and the car!
January 23rd, 2010 at 6:34 am
Shame there’s no drivway to actually get to that spot without driving on the grass
January 23rd, 2010 at 7:00 am
It’s a great idea if you can afford it. Hydraulics could be run off stored compressed air, negating the need for backup electricity.
Enjoy.
January 23rd, 2010 at 7:02 am
Jack – January 23rd, 2010 at 5:53 am:
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They park the car on a conveyor belt, I don’t see how you could use the tires as gears in this fashion. Especially with an incredibly low Porsche… Best way would be to do it hydraulically, like Kieth said.
January 23rd, 2010 at 7:20 am
Very stylish idea. But at least in the photo it is for posing only, because you can’t drive that car away without driving over the plants. Look at the first photo. That driveway to the left is much too small for the car and the turning cycle won’t allow to get into it in the first place.
BTW, it is probably not meant to lead to an underground car park, because if you look closely you will see that the whole construction kind of flattens itself. The hydraulic piston that hold the roof get shorter as it is going down. So probably the choice of car (low sportscar) is mandatory.
This is the must-have for the wealthy Thunderbirds fan
January 23rd, 2010 at 8:07 am
Water would not be a problem with this,
Somebody who had enough money to have something like this designed and built, has enough money to hire somebody smart/capable and experience enough to do it right. Water would drain off at ground level near the seal at the top becouse the hole would have a substancial LIP to it.
Water that did get down would drain off into a large collection tank and be periodically pumped out (Perhaps even as periodically as every time the phnumatic lifts were activated.
also the event of a powercut would not be all that bad, as I would guess any engineer worth his salt would put something in to automatically release the car in the event of a power cut.
Such as an elecxtronmagnetic lock on the phnumatoc valves that releases the pressure when the power fails, so if the lights go out, the first thing you notice is the car rising to ground level.
just my 2 pence worth.
January 23rd, 2010 at 9:17 am
Why the hell would you need a pump to solve water problems? Have you people heard of sewer? Water can just be drained below into sewer system.
But, the power outage could be an issue, but as Duncan said, this can also be easily solved.
January 23rd, 2010 at 10:38 am
imagine if one of the car doors was left open on the way down.
January 23rd, 2010 at 10:45 am
seriously guys… i sort of doubt this has been built in a location that receives torrential downpours and “freezing temperatures”… this is probably built in southern california where it will get rained on 3 times a year… and never freeze.
January 23rd, 2010 at 11:09 am
looks cool. how do you get out from the underground garage?
January 23rd, 2010 at 11:31 am
You guys realize this is Photoshopped
January 23rd, 2010 at 11:35 am
Obviously this has been somewhere warm where there is no concern about freezing conditions. Secondly, power can not possibly be an issue. If someone can afford that, then surely they can afford back-up power in their home, it’s not that expensive.
January 23rd, 2010 at 11:51 am
My guess is that you don’t drive over the grass to get out… there is another strip of pavement where the wheels go just outside of camera range. Haters.
January 23rd, 2010 at 1:12 pm
The picture isn’t real. it’s a neat idea, but it’s only a concept done up in photoshop.
January 23rd, 2010 at 1:14 pm
already seen this in another picture, the cars pictured were lamborghini’s and there was space for two of them, it looked like it was in an actual subdivision, not a show home
January 23rd, 2010 at 1:23 pm
Sigh. You are all 12
January 23rd, 2010 at 1:27 pm
This is cool, and functional. I believe this also solves the problem of how you part 2 cars in one space. Your weekend car is below ground and your daily driver is in the driveway on top of this lift. The driveway is there, you don’t need pavement were there are no wheels on your car…
January 23rd, 2010 at 1:29 pm
you better make sure your perfectly centered on it, if you part too far back and you lower the car you will be very screwed
January 23rd, 2010 at 2:06 pm
this technology has been a popular topic of blogs for the last few years. search “ultimate lambo garage” on youtube for a demonstration.
January 23rd, 2010 at 2:10 pm
Wow… The people commenting here just might be the stupidest I’ve ever found. There is no underground garage. You don’t get stuck. You get out of the car first, then hit a button on a remote to make it descend.
January 23rd, 2010 at 2:14 pm
This pictured unit is made by CARDOK, a Bristol-based company in the UK. Most of the questions people are asking are answered on their FAQ page.
January 23rd, 2010 at 5:10 pm
That is friggin amazing.
January 23rd, 2010 at 5:56 pm
Yeah, what if your puttin on a bitchin porshe sticker on the winsheild and you lose hydraulic preasure when your not looking and it fucking cuts your legs off! Then you’d be stuck down there with all that murky water bleedin to death
January 23rd, 2010 at 6:36 pm
Hehe, if the power goes out you need to hand crank the shit up XD
January 23rd, 2010 at 8:13 pm
you get out before you put the thing down
January 23rd, 2010 at 9:20 pm
Half you guys are blind or morons.
Dangerous? Every workshop in the country has a hydraulic car lift that works pretty similar to this. No you don’t sit in the car while it’s up in the air. Yes it’s reliable enough that the mechanic hoists the car up and then stands underneath it to work, dozens of card a day, five days a week.
Driveway.. two concrete strips, grass down the middle. It’s bloody obvious in the photo. You guys have never seen a driveway like that before?
Drainage.. because every house with a basement needs a pump, right? You have a washing machine in the basement, how does the water get out?
Power cuts.. no reason you couldn’t have a few big batteries as standby.
What if the doors are open when you lower it? What if you close your electric garage door while the car is halfway out? What if you forget to close the doors before you back out your regular garage? What happens if you drive your car into another car or a power pole? “crunch” is what happens. Obviously. Don’t. Do. It.
January 23rd, 2010 at 10:23 pm
Not real good for a quick getaway!
January 23rd, 2010 at 10:25 pm
zcat has some good points. obviously money isnt an issue here! I have a neighbor who has a similar (although way less expensive) setup inside his garage. Instead of his Porche sinking “into” his driveway, he raises it up and parks his corvette underneath.
You could also use a gas powered hydraulic pump (or generator) for emergency.
January 24th, 2010 at 12:10 am
christ guys, i think if he can afford to hide a garage underground i think he can afford a pump and generator.
January 24th, 2010 at 12:53 am
That is way too cool. I love it. It’s one of the better ideas I have seen. I would imagine they must have come up with a way to keep it water tight.
James Martell
Publisher, KitCarConnection.com
January 24th, 2010 at 3:11 am
Why is everyone going on about power cuts… I when was the last time someone in a Western country had one of those ? I actually miss power cuts ! Haven’t had one for about 5 years. These already exist in London anyway.
January 24th, 2010 at 3:25 pm
To the one that said this is impractical becouse when light it’s out it doesk’t work: thanks to admitting that USA is a fuckig banana republic, thanks i’m never getting there again.
This is fucking lame I hope it get’s popular so I can lagught seeing the video of morons getting trapped and maybe cut in half when this monstruosity .
January 24th, 2010 at 3:28 pm
Also good luck when your ridicoulosy expensive car is completly submerged in water the first time it rains. I’m sure someone dumb enough to have this will also try to start the inundated engine destroying the car.
January 24th, 2010 at 4:43 pm
Great way to sort out a girlfriend’s temper tantrum. Lock her in the car and press the remote
January 24th, 2010 at 4:51 pm
cool a panic room with escape plan lol
January 25th, 2010 at 7:15 am
I would put my car on top of it…
can be easy if you have limited space but 2 cars… Need stronger hydraulics probably tho…
January 25th, 2010 at 10:44 am
SWEET, I’d like to see more of this technology! If I am ever wealthy I would love to have this garage! A way to avert rain from entering could be to have a collapsable tunnel which leads to the garage, therefore water will not be the biggest problem.
I like the idea of underground houses as well as an underground storage facility for cars. I hope that many space saving technologies will be widely available in the future.
January 26th, 2010 at 9:13 am
Very fantastic garage with Car.
this dream situation if become miliore to get this garage and car of panamera.
January 26th, 2010 at 11:07 am
Forget the garage…awsome wall ..grass and wood ????
January 28th, 2010 at 12:35 am
Did someone already suggest multiple cars, pick the one you’ll use that day? Well, its a level 3 day today …
January 28th, 2010 at 1:38 pm
Interresting.. but what happen in case of flooding ?!
January 29th, 2010 at 6:52 pm
I’d keep thinking someone stole my car. I’d look out the window and say, damn, not again. then I’d go out and buy another porsche, just like I did last time, and then when I brought it home, I’d say damn, I forgot I had that sinking garage thing, and then I’d have to build another one, and then I’d forget where I put it again, or it got stolen again, and then I would panic, and… The whole idea sucks. Hell, if I could buy a carrera, I would want to show the fool thing, not bury it in the front yard. But then, that’s just me…
January 30th, 2010 at 5:18 pm
Old news in Japan, and it can rain like a mother there. Most of the time there is a car on top as well, not just some fake shrubs.
January 30th, 2010 at 5:32 pm
@George:
Someone who can afford this garage obviously does not need to work.