Demolition of derelict robotic parking garages reveals entombed vehicles, trapped for 15 years

When the £5m Autosafe Skypark opened in Edinburgh, it was heralded as the UK's most technologically advanced car park, but in 2003, the owners went bankrupt and turned off the computers that controlled the lifts that raised and lowered cars into their bays.


15 years later, the structure is being demolished to clear the way for a new office block, and the works have revealed eight cars that were trapped since the garage's abrupt closure. Redditor ieya404 captured and posted images of the abandoned cars.

Update: Former employees claim that the cars were test-vehicles.


But it’s hoped the cars – which are thought to include models such as the Austin Maestro and Fiat Uno – will be given a reprieve from the scrapheap after demolition experts GCM services revealed “every effort would be made to save them”.

However, a mystery remains over their owners and why they were left in the car park.


Cars found trapped in Edinburgh’s ‘robot car park’ 15 years on [James Delaney/Edinburgh News]

(via Charlie Stross)

(Image: ieya404)