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

About This Item

Vintage automobiles are parked in a covered parking structure at San Francisco State College’s Lake Merced campus. The row includes a mix of European sports cars and American sedans, reflecting mid-century automotive design typical of the early 1960s. c. 1961–1963.

Identifier
TP-ATA-1798
Date
c. 1961 - 1963
Context

Parking structures such as this were developed alongside the Lake Merced campus to accommodate increasing automobile use among students, faculty, and staff. The variety of vehicles shown reflects both everyday campus life and the prominence of car culture in early 1960s California. The structure itself remains largely unchanged today.

Automobiles (approximate identifications):

  • Foreground (left): Triumph TR3A roadster (c. 1957–1962)
  • Next vehicle: Mercedes-Benz 190SL (c. 1955–1963)
  • Third vehicle (two-tone coupe): likely 1961 Chevrolet Impala
  • Additional vehicles: consistent with late 1950s–early 1960s American designs

Architecture:

  • Reinforced concrete parking structure
  • Low ceiling with exposed beams typical of mid-century campus construction

 

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
1961 - 1963
Type
Still Image
Format
Negative
Source
San Francisco State University Archives
Rights
Public
Views
309

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