Vintage Cars in a Campus Parking Structure (Second Floor), SFSU Lake Merced Campus, c. 1961–1963

About This Item

Vintage automobiles are parked on the second level of a parking structure at San Francisco State College’s Lake Merced campus. The row includes mid-1950s American sedans alongside early 1960s compact cars, reflecting the range of vehicles in use during this period. c. 1961–1963.

Identifier
TP-ATA-1799
Date
c. 1961 - 1963
Context

Parking structures such as this were developed to support increasing automobile use among students, faculty, and staff during the early 1960s. The mix of vehicles—from large, chrome-heavy sedans to newer compact models—illustrates a transitional moment in American car design and campus life. The structure itself remains largely unchanged today.

Automobiles (approximate identifications):

  • Foreground (right): likely 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air (mid-1950s styling with whitewall tires)
  • Adjacent vehicle: likely 1957 Chevrolet (Bel Air or 210), identifiable by tail fins and dual round tail lights
  • Mid-left (facing camera): likely 1960 Chevrolet Corvair (compact rear-engine design)

Architecture:

  • Reinforced concrete parking structure with exposed beams
  • Column markings (e.g., “2M”) indicating level or section
 

Credits: 

Some technical descriptions and historical interpretations were developed with the assistance of ChatGPT, an AI language model by OpenAI.

Geographic Coverage
San Francisco, CA
Temporal Coverage
around 1961-1963
Type
Still Image
Format
Negative
Source
San Francisco State University Archives
Rights
Public
Views
327

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