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Vert-a-Pac: GM’s Weird Way of Shipping the Vega on Its Nose

‘Sucking in the ‘70s’ is not just the name of a Rolling Stones record album.

Ah, the Chevrolet Vega, 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 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 for shipping them by rail. Meet the Vega
Vert-a-Pac.

A New Way to Get the Vega to Market

One of the many, many, many problems plaguing General Motors in the late 1960s was the logistics of getting cars to dealerships. Back then as now, cars were shipped by rail, but the railcars they used (known as autoracks) were open-deck affairs that made the cars prone to vandalism and other damage.

A typical 89-foot tri-level autorack could hold five cars per deck, for a total of 15. For very small cars, such as the Vega, 18 cars could squeeze in—but the weight of 18 Vegas was still far less than the weight capacity of the railcars. 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. GM and Southern Pacific Railroad teamed up and created a solution for moving Vegas: Vert-a-Pac.

Vert-a-Pac Upends Logistics Logic—Literally The Vega Vert-a-Pack 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 Vega was 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. Fifteen Vegas could be packed in, door-handle to door-handle on each side, for a total of 30 Vegas per loaded flatcar.

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