The concept of storing cars in mechanical facilities is nearly as old as the car itself. The first system appeared in 1905 and evolved to house thousands of cars though early mechanical faults caused interest to wane. Storing cars in such a fashion has its benefits as it nearly eliminates theft, damage and often results in storing more cars in less space.

Carvana operates similar car vending machines across the United States. The Tempe, AZ-based startup even lets users insert a novelty coin to have their car delivered from the machine. It’s cute and sometimes you need cute to have an edge.

It seems the Super Test-Drive Center’s edge will come from its deep understander of potential buyers. The data provided by Alibaba should make for an interesting shopping experience especially, if as advertised, it gives deals based on a person’s perceived lifestyle. If nothing else, it should be a fun advertising tactic because there’s nothing like a car vending machine with giant cat ears.

Source: TechCrunch