(apologies if unorginal, I tried and failed to find this idea)

You know that when you drive to work in the morning that the convenient spaces next to your front door will be taken when you get back. If only you could safeguard the space from marauding neighbours.

I suggest using a fake, mock-up car. Made from a combination of light fold-away plastic and inflatables, it can be erected in less than 3 minutes by an air pump. Ballasted be weights it will remain stationary, filling the space until you return from work. It can the be easily deflated and stored in the boot of your car.

Admittedly it won't stand up to serious interrogation (or cigarette butts), but will discourage the casual parker who will mistake it for a real vehicle.
-- Jinbish, Sep 04 2002

If I may be so presumptious...?

If the inflatable car were rendered to look like yur real car, and the top half of the car were held in shape with nylon poles like the ones used in those tents that go up in a matter of nanoseconds <draws breath> then after being deflated you could use it as a cover to keep off dust/frost/bird droppings.

An added advantage would be that observers would never know whether or not your real car was there, without getting out to look. (And then they'd be nosey parkers, boom boom).

Might even scare away landlords, who knows.
-- egbert, Nov 19 2002


I use a traffic cone I keep in my boot.
-- AJCrowley, Apr 20 2003


where would you park while you settin this thing up, but i do like the idea, it could even unfold out of a breifcase
-- AMCguy, Aug 26 2003


This would also be a valuable accessory to prevent car theft. The car thief would start breaking into the inflatable car, then stop on realizing she could never drive it away, on account of it being inflatable. It might also be a valuable accessory _for_ car thieves. A canister could be deployed so the inflatable car inflates instantly. This is put in front of the car being stolen, so if the owner looks out the window, he will see his car, unmolested - but really it is only the inflatable decoy. Finally, the inflatable car would be useful to dissuade those apes and parrots that jump on cars and tear bits off. When some malicious gibbon sank his fangs into the inflatable car, it would explode with a deafening noise, hurling the terrified apes / parrots away, thus imbuing a permanent fear of cars.
-- bungston, Aug 26 2003



random, halfbakery