<VV> Scrapping the Astro I show car

[Robert Hawley]

I am happy to report that earlier this month (11-09) I saw the red and black 1967 Astro I at the GM Heritage Museum (tour sponsored by SAE).  Four concept cars were parked in the row that included the 1967 Astro I, white 1969 Astro III, 1963 Corvair Monza SS and the 1962 Corvair Monza GT.  All were in great condition and, yes, I was thrilled to see all of them especially the Corvair Monzas - they are so small in person.

Additionally, The 1969 red Corvair Monza htp modified for Bill Mitchell, a  red and white (stripe) 1964 Greenbrier, a blue and white (stripe) 1962 Rampside, a  green 1969 Monza conv (with less than 50 miles) and the blue 1966 Electrovair II ( 4 door Spt Sedan) were all in evidence on the museum floor.  All of the Corvairs were in beautiful condition.

In the engine section of the museum I noted the absence of a Corvair power plant and talked to the docent about that.  He wasn't sure if they even have a Corvair engine to display.  Only about 200 of the 600 cars that GM has remaining in its collection can be displayed in the non-descript warehouse in Detroit.  I will note that the Gilmore Auto Museum (a must-see for car buffs) near Kalamazoo has a 1962 Spyder cut-away engine on display (which they had listed as 140 c.i. until I corrected the info).

Cheers all, Bob Hawley

The URL for the GM museum is:  http://www.gm.com/corporate/about/heritage/