15 storey supercar vending machine opens in Singapore

The building, located about six kilometres west of the country's central business district, is 15 storeys tall, and can store up to 60 cars.

Customers, located on the ground floor, select a car to inspect via a tablet. The Automotive Inventory Management System (AIMS) features a fish bone-style elevator system with floor grates that's said to reduce wind resistance, and help it deliver cars from their storage location to potential customers within around two minutes.

This new showcase building was developed for Autobahn Motors, a Singaporean second-hand car dealership, which primarily specialises in luxury and exotic vehicles.

Among its list of available vehicles are a 1991 Mercedes-Benz SL, 1973 BMW 3.0 CS, 1977 Ferrari Dino GT4, 1967 Mercedes-Benz 250SL Pagoda, 1974 Austin Mini, 1971 Jaguar XJ, 1976 MGB, and 1955 Morgan Plus 4.

Not everything is a classic or supercar, though, with a Volkswagen Sharan, Lexus RX, and a selection of modern Mini hatches on the menu.

Gary Hong, general manager of the family-run Autobahn Motors, told Reuters: "We needed to meet our requirement of storing a lot of cars. At the same time, we wanted to be creative and innovative."

The dealership has reportedly received enquiries from developers hoping to use AIMS to more efficiently store and retrieve vehicles.

With its automated car elevator, bright night-time lighting, and a glass front, Autobahn Motors' building isn't the first automobile vending machine. In late 2015, we detailed a similar setup in Nashville, Tennessee operated by Carvana, a website specialising in garden variety second-hand vehicles.