Awesome Garages

Locking up your bicycle to a rack or pulling your car into a marked space seem like nice, low-tech approaches to parking. Tom Scott explains why some locations in Japan have adopted a much more complicated system, using underground garages and massive, robotically-controlled systems for parking bikes and cars.

You might think “Weird Al” Yankovic was a weird guy, but he’s a pretty regular dude who likes hanging out with his friends. Al recently performed with David Wain’s Middle-Aged Garage Jam, with his pals Bo Boddie, Jon Spurney, Ken Marino, Eduardo Penna, Beth Dover, and Joe Lo Truglio, who you might know from Reno 911.

Hide your beer in plain sight with this mini fridge disguised as a tool chest. The red exterior and drawer handles will blend right into your garage or workshop while providing a cool spot to store drinks and snacks. In addition to the locking fridge compartment, it has two working drawers for storing small tools and accessories.

Give your garage, basement, or workshop a serious upgrade with STKR’s whole-room lighting system. The main module screws into a light socket, while its four pods can be connected to spread 7500 lumens of smooth, white light throughout your space. It has an adjustable motion sensor and a USB port for connecting a security camera.

This smartly-designed rack turns your garage door into an added storage space. Its two ABS plastic bars work together to hold up to 10 pounds of fishing rods, brooms, and other long, lightweight tools. They clamp into most standard 18″ or 21″ garage door panels without tools, or can screwed into a wall or ceiling.

Have a garage or workshop area that’s disorganized? The guys at White Rabbit can revamp your space with versatile, smartly-designed storage from Monkey Bars, and durable polyurea flooring from Citadel. See what they did for our garage on 95octane.

Parking is hard to find in San Francisco, and so is the 4-car garage that Beausoleil Architects managed to build for this historic Victorian apartment. Watch the video to find out where it is.

UK-based company Cardok installs underground hydraulic parking systems designed to provide security and space. Each unit can lift up to 3 tons per deck, so a second car can be parked on top.

There won’t be anyone running out to clean your windows or check your oil, but the Garage Bell works for us: it rings like a good old full service station when you roll into your garage.