A closer look
Nothing screams 'American convenience' quite like demanding your car goes on vacation with you, but utterly refusing to drive it there yourself. Launched in 1971, the Auto Train Corporation capitalized on the bizarre paradox of snowbirds heading to Florida. Travelers gladly paid a premium to sleep in a railcar while their personal station wagons rode in an attached carrier. It successfully monetized the extreme lengths Americans will go to avoid the horrors of Interstate 95 traffic.
