<VV> The "Real" Astro I Powertrain

[werp knarly]

the engine displayed looked complete enough... someone seems to have spec's
on it...

was it also just a mock up? (say it aint so!)

Thanks!

Joe


- Original Message ----- 
From: "peter koehler" <pkoehler01 at atlanticbb.net>
To: <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
Sent: Friday, May 13, 2005 5:53 PM
Subject: <VV> The "Real" Astro I Powertrain


> 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
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