I have a vertical leg press machine in my garage, which I got cheap on craigslist. I love it!
As for Vince Gironda and squats (and leg pressing)... he seemed to strongly favor a more wire-y, compact type of physique rather than the thicker builds associated with back squats, such as Reg Park and Bill Pearl. Even John Grimek, whose example first inspired Gironda in the field of bodybuilding, used the squat as a foundation of his routine. And of course, as part of the Hoffman/York crew, Grimek was also known as an Olympic lifter; whereas Gironda was against Olympic lifts for bodybuilders.
Reading through a lot of Gironda's books and articles, I have noticed that Gironda would strongly recommend against back squats except in very rare cases; he thought they developed the glutes too much and widened the hip structure. However, he seemed to remain absolutely silent when it came to specific examples of bodybuilders who used heavy back squats in their routines, such as the aforementioned Pearl, Park and Grimek.