<VV> The "Real" Astro I Powertrain

[peter koehler]

Hate to burst your collective bubble - but the Astro I 
show car was just that: A show car. The men that worked 
the Chevrolet Shows and Displays called them 
"PushMobiles". Meaning you had to push them anywhere you 
wanted them to go. When we picked up the Astro I from it's 
warehouse stall in the Detroit Inner City area back in the 
late '80's it was equipped with a 1964 164 cid powerglide 
powertrain. It didn't run. It couldn't run. It was never 
designed to run. The only thing that worked was the 
steering and the raising roof/seat mechanism. I think the 
engine and transaxle were brand new. Never used. The 
"shifter" for the PG was a mocked up lever that was merely 
glued to a panel in the interior of the show car. No 
cables. No connection. Never intended to do anything but 
look like a shifter. While GM did print up fliers that 
touted the new overhead engine with all the bells and 
whistles the show car got a plain old 110 and a 'glide. 
Another interesting facet of the Astro I: the chassis 
started out life as a Porsche 356. The Astro I iteration 
was the 3rd use of that platform. This can be drawn from 
the designation of XP---"C". The first two versions were 
torn down and the final version is what we see today. - 
Pete Koehler