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Vert-A-Pac train cars kept your Chevy Vega's price in check

Our apologies to those who've seen this before, but for the rest of the class, how awesome are these pictures of the Vert-A-Pac shipping system General Motors came up with to ship the Chevrolet Vega back in the 1970s? Developed along with Southern Pacific Railroad, GM was able to double the amount of Vega models it could ship by packing them into the unique storage cars vertically.
At the time, rail cars could fit 15 vehicles each, but Chevrolet was able to lower shipping costs by making it possible to ship 30 Vegas per rail car, in turn allowing the price of the Vega to remain as low as possible. Each rail car had 30 doors that would fold down so that a Vega could be strapped on, and then a forklift would come along and lift the door into place. All the cars were positioned nose down, and since they were shipped with all of their required fluids, certain aspects had to be designed specifically for this type of shipping, including an oil baffle in the engine, a special battery and even a repositioned windshield washer reservoir. See for yourself in our image gallery above.

Chevy Corvette Stingray picks up another award, this time from Automobile

The new Chevrolet Corvette Stingray has picked up another buff book accolade after capturing Road and Track's Performance Car of the Year award. The seventh-generation of America's sports car (sorry Viper, Mustang, et al.) has been named Automobile Magazine's Automobile of the Year.
Automobile's award to the Corvette over competitors is the mirror image of its rival Motor Trend, which named the Cadillac CTS its car of the year over the C7. The CTS was, according to the Automobile team, the closest contender to the mighty Stingray. Great news all around for General Motors it seems.
As for what pushed the Corvette past its distant, four-door cousin, Automobile commended its excellent, 6.2-liter V8 calling the car's performance "simply awesome" while also remarking that it is easier to drive fast than ever before thanks to steering and chassis tweaks. Following a theme set by other publications, there were also plaudits for the interior, of all things, with the buff book complimenting the car's ergonomics and material quality, while also praising the standard seats.

Indian tuner turns Chevy Optra into Mustang 'Eleanor' replica

If you are a big fan of automotive oddities, this may come as a little treat. If you are a Shelby or Mustang diehard, prepare to have your sensibilities violated.
The master fabricators at BigDaddyCustoms are the minds behind what you see above. At first, it appears to be a slightly misshapen custom Mustang, modeled after "Eleanor" from Gone In 60 Seconds, but upon further examination, something appears to be amiss. In fact, the custom shop, based in India, has created an Eleanor replica grafted upon a lowly Chevrolet Optra. While it may take a second for the Optra to ring a bell, you should recognize its badge-engineered sibling, the Daewoo Lacetti, used on Top Gear.
We don't know what star would opt for the Reasonably Priced Car in Shelby's clothing, but it's clearly someone more concerned with the aesthetic than the performance credentials of this automotive mash-up.