Penny Arcade Card featuring Astro I, the 1967 Chevrolet experimental car.
The Chevrolet Astro I was an innovative concept car that debuted at the 1967 New York Auto Show. Its futuristic design included a very low drag coefficient, achieved through a low roofline, small frontal area, and a relatively high back. One of the most striking features was its pop-up canopy section instead of regular doors. This allowed for easier entry into the vehicle, which had an almost impossible low height of 35.5 inches. The seats would lift up with the canopy, allowing the driver and passenger to climb up into them and lower into the vehicle as the clamshell section closed.
The Astro I featured a unique, single overhead camshaft version of Chevy’s Turbo-Air 6 boxer engine, enlarged to 2.9 liters and producing 240 horsepower at 7,400 RPM. However, there’s some debate over whether this engine was ever actually installed in the Astro I, as some reports suggest it was only used in a test car and the show car featured a regular Corvair boxer motor.
Although the Astro I never went into production, it represented a significant step in automotive design and engineering. It was designed to explore the visual potential of automotive aerodynamics and now resides in the GM Heritage Center, alongside other notable concept cars like the Corvair Monza GT and Monza SS. [Sources: Bing Copilot, General Motors, and Remarkable Corvettes]
Penny Arcade Card featuring Astro I, the 1967 Chevrolet experimental car.
The Chevrolet Astro I was an innovative concept car that debuted at the 1967 New York Auto Show. Its futuristic design included a very low drag coefficient, achieved through a low roofline, small frontal area, and a relatively high back. One of the most striking features was its pop-up canopy section instead of regular doors. This allowed for easier entry into the vehicle, which had an almost impossible low height of 35.5 inches. The seats would lift up with the canopy, allowing the driver and passenger to climb up into them and lower into the vehicle as the clamshell section closed.
The Astro I featured a unique, single overhead camshaft version of Chevy’s Turbo-Air 6 boxer engine, enlarged to 2.9 liters and producing 240 horsepower at 7,400 RPM. However, there’s some debate over whether this engine was ever actually installed in the Astro I, as some reports suggest it was only used in a test car and the show car featured a regular Corvair boxer motor.
Although the Astro I never went into production, it represented a significant step in automotive design and engineering. It was designed to explore the visual potential of automotive aerodynamics and now resides in the GM Heritage Center, alongside other notable concept cars like the Corvair Monza GT and Monza SS. [Sources: Bing Copilot, General Motors, and Remarkable Corvettes]