Ah, the Chevy Vega, the General Motors poorly built, muffler-splitting, block-warping reject that was supposed to challenge the imports for sales, but instead challenged them to a game of “Who can rust first?” Many people don’t realize that GM developed a lot of new technology in an ill-fated attempt to make the Vega competitive, and one of the most fascinating developments was its method of shipping them by rail. One of the many problems plaguing GM in the late 1960s was the logistics of getting cars to dealerships. Back then, cars were shipped by rail, but the railcars they used were open-deck affairs that made the cars prone to vandalism and other damage. Railroads generally charged per carload, so it was in GM’s interest to find a way to pack as many vehicles as it could into each car. That’s when they teamed up with Southern Pacific Railroad to create a solution: the Vert-a-Pac. The Vert-a-Pac used a specially modified 89-foot flat car with a row of bottom-hinged doors on each side, each of which formed a ramp when opened. The new Vegas were driven onto the ramp and bolted down using sockets on the frame rails. Once all the cars were loaded, a forklift lifted and closed the doors, tilting the Vegas onto their noses. That way, 15 Vegas could be packed in, door-handle to door-handle on each side, for a total of 30 Vegas per loaded flatcar. The new transportation method lowered GM's shipping outlay by about 40%. For all of the Vega's problems, the Vert-a-Pac shipping method was one of the few things that worked correctly. After the Vega got the axe in 1977, GM stopped using the Vert-a-Pac shipping method, and with no other automakers using the system, Southern Pacific Railroad removed it from their flat cars. Today, modern autoracks have enclosed sides that protect cars from debris and vandalism.
