Vert-a-Pac railroad transporting for Chevy Vegas - photos

[Jon]

The Chevrolet Vega was designed specifically with low price in mind - it initially sold for around $2,000. However, the cost of transporting a vehicle from the factory to the showroom was very high - usually around $200-$300, depending on distance. Cars were generally transported by rail transport car, stacked horizontally in three layers, with 18 cars per 89-foot rail car.

In an effort to lower costs further, General Motors worked with Southern Pacific Railroad to design Vert-A-Pac rail cars, which were used to transport 30 Chevy Vegas at once, in a vertical configuration. Various filler caps, baffles, drain tubes, and spacers were used so that the Vegas could be transported nose-down.





What happened? Chevy Vegas were plagued with various reliability issues, prompting multiple large recalls. As the Vega went downhill, so did the model-specific Vert-A-Pac delivery method. Why don't we then use this method to transport cars by rail today? I don't know.