RICHARD PORTER

N 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. Once the cars were in place, the ramps would