<VV> Scrapping the Astro I show car

[Marc Sheridan]

Great story Peter, thanks for sharing.

Marc Sheridan
Waverly OH

On Mon, Nov 30, 2009 at 4:09 PM, peter koehler <pkoehler01 at atlanticbb.net>wrote:

> When I was working for Chevrolet Engineering at the GM
> Milford Proving Ground in the mid-80's I was alerted that
> Chevrolet had plans to scrap the Astro I. The Monza SS and
> GT were not mentioned - but those two were drive-able
> vehicles and were not parked in the same dusty warehouse
> off Livernois Blvd in Detroit as the Astro I was relegated
> to. Seems that somewhere along the line the Astro I and
> some other special vehicles - like the very first Cosworth
> Vega were transferred to Chevrolet Fleet "on the books".
> Since Chevy Fleet saw no value in the Astro I it was
> tagged for demolition. That meant it would get hauled out
> to Milford and fed into the on-site car crusher. Once
> flattened its remains would be recycled.
>
> Of course we in the Corvair club didn't want that to
> happen. But we in the Corvair club had no "pull" with
> Chevrolet Fleet. That is when I got involved. It was
> fellow Corvair enthusiast Stu Shuster who notified me of
> the Astro I's plight. Since I worked for Chevrolet and I
> had become friendly with the guys in Milford responsible
> for moving cars around for my job at the time, Stu and I
> concocted a plan to save the Astro I. We used a simple
> shipper form (GSD-38?) to arrange for the moving of the
> Astro I out of the Detroit warehouse and into my care. I
> "borrowed" a driver and a flatbed truck from Milford and
> off we went to Detroit.
>
> The story has a happy ending. The Astro I was delivered to
> my residence in Farmington Hills and stayed there for less
> than a week. This is where Stu Shuster took over. He let
> it be known at Design Staff (where he was employed by GM
> as a designer) that we (the Corvair Club) had their (Chuck
> Jordon is very possessive of his creations) show car!
> Somehow Stu got Chuck Jordon to approve some funds ($25k?)
> to repaint and repair the aging beauty. I delivered the
> car to the GM Tech Center in Warren with my old 1977
> Caprice station wagon and a borrowed trailer. The next
> time we all saw the Astro I it was beautiful again.
>
> Stu should get all of the credit for saving the Astro I.
> It seems amazing to me now that we actually pulled this
> stunt off! - Pete K
>
>