Bumper to bumper

Aucklander's’ love affair with cars was just taking off when this map was printed in 1948. Cars were becoming cheaper, suburbs were spreading out, and more people than ever were choosing to zip to town and back on four wheels.

This Automobile Association map tells drivers where they can and can'’t park in the central city, and for how long.  There were no parking buildings and the first parking meters were still several years away.  Competition for spaces outside shops and movie theatres was fierce.

This map’s red and green colour-coding aimed to simplify matters.  But as you can see from its list of part-time restrictions, the system was maddeningly complex. Parking was banned on Karangahape Road on Friday nights, for good reason.  K'Rd was one of Auckland’'s most popular retail strips in the 1940s and the throng of late-night shoppers, trams and trolley buses would have made street parking tricky at best.