Chevy Astro

The Chevy Astro has been the same since 1995, virtually no changes, only minor. Does anyone agree with me that the Chevy Astro needs to be redesigned? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cryin.gif

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The Chevy Astro has been the same since 1995, virtually no changes, only minor. Does anyone agree with me that the Chevy Astro needs to be redesigned? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cryin.gif

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I didn't realize they still made the Astro. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Hmm... Maybe they stopped last year. That was still eight years without a change.

They've hardly changed since they first came out in 1985. (Yes, they still make them.)

Is that bad? I don't think so. The basic concept is sound, smaller, lighter and more efficient than a full size van but more capability than a typical minivan. It's sort of a midi-van, a real workhorse. That's why you see so many in commercial fleets. Why mess with it?

It may not have the cushy amenities of a modern day-spa-on-wheels floof-mobile but I'll take towing capacity over electric nose wipers and satellite guided restaurant reviews any day.

Sure, it could benefit form some new technology and a few engineering upgrades as long as they just improve on the fundamentals and don't screw it up trying to make it into something else.


PC.

Astro's have towing capacity? just joking. We have a 98 astro at work and it is still running ok. Alothough our older 91 astro was a much better mini van.

It's typically a work vehicle, therefore redesigning it is not economically logical. Same reason they don't redesign cube trucks often.

I know it is a work vehicle that is dependable, but they could redesign the body even a little.

I mean here is a 1995 Astro


And here is a 2004 Astro


Virtually no changes.

Kind’a reminds me of that old maxim concerning things going out of style, “that if you hang on to them long enough – eventually they’ll come back in style”. Anyway looking at some of those rolling cube (iceboxes) shaped vehicles that are coming off the assembly lines nowadays, perhaps that’s what GM is hoping for with the Chevy Astro?

Kismet maybe? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

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Kind’a reminds me of that old maxim concerning things going out of style, “that if you hang on to them long enough – eventually they’ll come back in style”.

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That certainly is true for me. I never liked the Corvette from 1968 to whenever that style stopped but I think the 68's are really sharp now.

There is no reason to redesign it. The amount of buyers they would pick up would be negligible. Besides, they need the Astro right now to make the 4.3L economical to produce. It is a good van, and the 4.3L, while a tad rough around the edges, is among the most dependable and durable powerplants out there.

Don’t know if I agree with the engine being the reason to retain a model. As an example - Ford had one of the best power plants the 4.9L I6 in their full size pick-ups prior to 1995 but it wouldn’t fit in the new re-designed F-150.

I would tend to think the vehicle is still around is that they have customers who still want it.

I had lunch with a bunch of GM Truck engineers this week, all former co-workers, and mentioned this to them. The concensus was that the Astro had pehaps one more year to run, as the Baltimore plant where it is made has no product assigned to it past 2005.
When I was with GM Truck, there was a brief program for the Astro/Safari replacement, (GMT 710) but it was cancelled early in the development stages, in '98 or '99, if my memory is intact. I know we spent nearly a year hand building the new body, only to see it moved outside to rust away!
Since I had the information, I thought I would pass it on.
Jeff