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Philly’s self-proclaimed best parallel parkers faced off in the first edition of the Philadelphia Parallel Parking Association (PPPA) Championship at South Street’s Headhouse Square on Saturday afternoon.
When the brake dust settled and the last curb measurement was made, West Mount Airy’s Mario Zucca, AKA “One-Shot Mar,” was crowned the champion.
“It feels amazing, I feel euphoric right now,” he said shortly afterward hoisting the clearly heavy slab of concrete. “Honestly … I just didn’t want to finish in last. So to have one is pretty surreal.”
Zucca’s prizes besides bragging rights included a trophy, $76 towards his next parking ticket and free parking in any Center City Garage for the month of October, courtesy of the actual Philadelphia Parking Authority.
Zucca, an artist and illustrator when he’s not a parking legend, in a custom-designed jumpsuit and American flag helmet. All 15 competitors were encouraged to bring flair along with their skill and — except for one no-show — no one lacked either.
The contestants were selected from around the city, from an application pool of nearly 300 people. They each competed in three parking challenges: First, the one-shot, then the tight squeeze and finally parking under the duress of distractions like simulated pothole construction, a Mummer’s parade and a partially clothed person on a scooter.
The field was narrowed to three finalists: Zucca, heavy equipment operator LaTasha “Tasha” Hall and Shafir “Pirate One Shot” Mondal, who drove the driving school car his family owns.
In the end, “One-Shot Mar” won over the judges and the crowd by showering them with custom designed parking tickets and releasing balloons before his final park, leading to him lifting the clearly weighty trophy that included an actual piece of the curb.
“I just hope my mantle’s strong enough, because that thing’s really heavy,” Zucca said.
The championship drew hundreds of spectators to watch the competitive parking and other entertainment, dance breaks from Philly’s newest unhinged mascot, Parallel Pete.
A truck in the center of the square played live coverage of competition, which was also streaming on the PPPA’s Instagram feed.
Proceeds from the Philly’s event are going towards Families for Safe Streets Greater Philadelphia, the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia’s initiative to curb traffic violence. The program was also featured in the square and Wodka said he hoped that attendees took in its message amongst all the entertainment.
“Yes, Philly, we’re good drivers, and we take things seriously. But, I’m gonna be honest, there’s a lot of crazy drivers out here,” PPPA commissioner and founder Adam Wodka said. “How do we get the message out? How do we tone it down? We got to be safe out here.”
Parallel parking competitions began in Pittsburgh in 2021 and have been happening regularly there, as well as in Portland, Oregon; Austin and other places. Pittsburgh held its sixth edition just a couple weeks ago and included nearly 200 competitors vying for that competition’s golden chair trophy.
Wodka said he’d love to expand next year’s competition to include regional qualifiers.
“During the year, let’s go to South Philly. Let’s go to Northeast. Let’s go to Delco. Let’s have 20 people from there compete, and let’s have those winners here to decide who’s the best,” he said.
