Parking 1930

[Y-Blockhead]

Space saver parking.

 

[Gary WA]

Thats crazy but smart!!

 

[David in San Antonio]

There were several of these in Manhattan about 60 years ago. Perhaps different in design, they resembled vertically-arrayed sets of roller chains with platforms. A car was loaded or unloaded at the ground level and then rode up and around and down as other cars were put on or off. In some cases there was just one unit. In others several stood side by side. They looked very old when I saw them, absolutely coated in soot as if they’d been stored in a coal mine. Then they disappeared, along with pre-stamped post cards and the 20 cent slice of pizza, and dialing Operator to call long distance, but it would some time before the subways started running air-conditioned cars.
A few years ago newer versions popped up. They looked to me as if they were built by the same folks who make ski gondolas, with dark red powder-coated assemblies. Swiss? German?

 

[mcgarrett]

From what I've seen, they still do it that way in Tokyo and other large Japanese cities. Real estate is too expensive to devote to parking cars.

 

[Badpuppy]

Carvana.

 

[JayJay]

I remember there were some similar, maybe three or four high, in parking garages in San Francisco in the 50s when I was a wee lad. This appears to allow the cars to be on both sides (which would make sense from a balance standpoint) while the ones I remember were simply stacking.