Abstract: A loading transfer device includes: a carriage adapted for attachment to a lower surface of the rear compartment; a rack to hold the wheelchair or other object; and rotatable linkage means pivotally connecting the rack to the carriage, whereby, as the linkage means is rotated in a substantially continuous forward pivotal motion during a loading cycle, the rack and the wheelchair or other object held thereon are raised from a substantially vertically oriented loading position at the rear of the vehicle in which the rack is adjacent a ground surface rearward of the vehicle to facilitate placement of the wheelchair or other object thereonto, forwardly pivoted through approximately 90°, passing through a point of maximum elevation, and lowered and moving forward simultaneously to a substantially horizontal storage position in which the rack is adjacent and substantially parallel to the carriage in the compartment, the cycle being reversible for unloading; wherein when the rack and the chair or other object are in