Carvana sold used cars out of coin-operated glass vending towers. Buyers browsed photos, arranged financing and signed papers online. Then they had the car delivered or picked it up from a tower. A seven-day return policy replaced the test drive. When Carvana filed to go public in 2017, nearly all used cars still changed hands at traditional lots. Few people believed buyers would skip the test drive.

Born Inside DriveTime

Carvana started in 2012 inside DriveTime, a used car dealer run by the Garcia family in Arizona. Ernie Garcia III, Ryan Keeton and Ben Huston built it as a separate online business. Their bet was that software could replace the worst parts of buying a car, the haggling and the paperwork. The car vending machine became the symbol of that idea.

Near the Edge and Back

Carvana priced at $15 a share in April 2017 and fell on its first day. Then the stock rose many times over as sales grew. In 2022 it bought the physical sites of ADESA's auction business. High rates and heavy debt pushed the company near the edge, and the stock collapsed. Carvana restructured its debt, returned to profit and recovered. It remains public.

Cover: The Automobile, José Guadalupe Posada. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for an early automobile.