In 1970 General Motors announced a new compact model for North America and decided the best way to ship each one from its Ohio factory was to stand it vertically on its nose. To make this mad system work, the car, called the Chevrolet Vega, had to be built with removable sockets on its chassis so it could be bolted to ramps that folded down from the sides of each specially modified Southern Pacific railcar.
The Vega itself was a disaster for GM but the shipping system was actually quite inspired, allowing the company to cram 30 cars into a carriage that could normally take 18, thereby saving a massive amount on shipping. Nonetheless, GM didn’t repeat the vertical transport idea for any other model, leaving it as a curious footnote in history and a vivid demonstration of something I’ve believed for a while now: General Motors is batshit crazy.
This is a company that made the Oldsmobile Toronado, a 7.5-litre V8 coupe that was front-wheel drive. This is also the company that came up with a radical, steel-framed, plastic-skinned, two-seat urban ‘commuter car’ for the ’80s, and if you’re imagining something like a
One of the most interesting (and definitely the funniest) motoring piece I’ve read for quite a while…good stuff sniffpetrol! Really want to see a V7 side wheel drive beast now.