DO NOT leave the machine in the cabinet for even a short trip. One dip in the road and the machine lifts up and comes down hard and smashes the cabinet. I've heard of this happening.

I remove the head, and then wrap so it can't come open, and haul it upside down. they are much less likely to tip over that way, as even without the head they are a bit top heavy.

In a moving van, items are usually packed in tight together so something can not tip over. I'm normally hauling just a few and then there is room enough for tipping.

I moved mine from southern AZ to northern AZ in my minivan. Those machines are terribly top heavy, especially with the head in, so definitely remove it, even for your short move. If the tools and feet are with the machine, the screw driver in the tool kit will loosen the screws to remove the head. I also removed the drawers just because they were full of feet, tools, and thread (and 75 years of lint). Fasten the cover down on the cabinet with a sheet of newspaper and some painters tape and turn the cabinet upside down for transport.

even Singer shipped them upside down. (closeup of 1903 dock photo)
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Upside down does seem like the best solution. In case that's not possible (it might be too high for the car) would on its side be an option? With on its side I mean putting what would be the back of the table on the floor.

(Sorry about all the questions, I am just really nervous about transporting the thing as I don't want it to break - and I haven't even technically bought it yet!)

We hauled my Columbus treadle home from Chicago on its back. I knew we should be able take out the head, but I forgot about the little screws, and the guys who were hauling it down a very long flight of stairs just wanted to get it done. They broke a few pieces of trim by gripping it in the wrong place, but that was fixable.
We had to put the back seats down to accommodate it in the hatch back. But we got it here with no more mishaps.

I want to thank everyone for their advice. In the end, I didn't buy the treadle. The machine was very rusty. It looked to be mostly surface rust, but still. On top of that, for some reason the needle wouldn't get up and down. There was a little movement and then it just stopped, even though the wheel would keep turning. I opened the machine up to see if maybe there was some sort of blockage that was easily fixed. I could see that when the wheel turned the disk that has the needle column (for lack of the proper term) attached to it would turn about 1/3 of the way and then stop. Fiddling with the stop-motion screw didn't help. I think the problem was somewhere inside the machine where I couldn't get to it. Yes, maybe oil would have helped, but the fact that it was basically not working combined with the rust meant I didn't take the machine.

Maybe if the seller had lowered the price enough I'd have taken it, because the treadle table was in excellent condition. But this will be my first vintage machine and I really want a usable one. A little TLC - cleaning, polishing - is okay, but at the very least I want all parts there and the machine in working order. So I'll keep looking. I'm not in a hurry, so that's okay.