The sleeper provided ample room and comfort, and air conditioning The sleeper was scaled like the cab and was roomy and comfortable. Now for those of you who have seen dbl bunk Astro's yes there were some after market dbl bunk conversions. . You mean this one Bryce ? Six Easy Ways To Keep Your Truck Cab Organized On The Road. Ive seen a number of really nice ones, rebuilt and re-finished and restored back to new condition. I was assigned a 81 model with a 63 as a backup spare truck Single rear axle. I cant say I have a soft spot for Brigadiers. Despite everyones best efforts, the business finally went under in 2013. Beat me to itthe White was clearly an Astro rip-off, although there isnt exactly a lot of leeway with big COE trucks in making them look distinctive, at least in the idiom of that time. Autocar will still sell you a new truck. Its interior became much more spacious due to an optional sleeper cab. I dont recall who won it, but I do remember that they paid $300 for the privilege. To get in the sleeper bunk the driver of the rig must crawl through a hole. White trailers with a big "Food Lion" graphic. The cabovers black interior is also the most unique. The only GM heavy truck that was built after the merger was the Brigadier, and it lasted until the Pontiac heavy truck plant closed in late 1989. Ive had the pleasure to drive an LTL-9000, and the misfortune to drive a Brigadier. And you see a lot of Brigadiers out here too. The driver would be the first guy at the scene of a head on accident. Hes the one that hired me. 1968 GMC ASTRO For Sale in Madison, Minnesota at TractorHouse.com. Discover (and save!) GMC Astro 95 Semi Tractor Cabover Truck 1:25 Scale AMT - Arrow Models None of this stuff is even broken in! As a mechanic, I spent a lot of time working on this style of truck. made it able to slip through wind better than other COEs at the Today, it is one of the most recognizable marques in the industry. This retro truck style is rising to the surface once again for particular working applications. No other semi had that much glass, and the fact it went down so far gave the driver better vision of things real close, like someone in a crosswalk, but it freaked some drivers out at first because you do feel exposed compared to say a Kenworth or Peterbuilt Cab over of the time. Any way it was big. Required fields are marked *. It was pretty tiring crawling in and out of it and having to lie down to get dressed! Drivers had to be careful of foot placement, or else theyd end up falling on the ground! the past 3 years. wide panoramic glass provided excellent vision to the front and the But, with surprising candor, he began to lament his purchase of the truck having now done the math, he was expecting to take a big hit on it, and several other things hed won at that auction. This meant that there were less gauges on the wraparound part than They are all different shapes and sizes, and are also all designed to fit different people. Great truck and photo. The cabover has black, red, and white interiors. Thats code word for farmers. This truck was tight, the Cummins was purrfectly quiet and smooth and I was liking that. The GMC Astro 95 - members.tripod.com 1969-'88 GMC Astro | Hemmings The Astro could be ordered with standard Detroit Diesel 6 or 8 My client roster once included a manufacturing firm called Ercoa. Provo, UT - Box Truck - Straight Truck,Cabover Truck - COE Trucks For By the mid eighties, they were doing pretty well for themselves: theyd moved into a big new facility, had expanded their lineup to include such things as portable ice houses and their trademark line of peddle-boats, and of course they were still cranking out pontoons left and right. I dont think Id ever consider trying to restore one. When I worked at Peterbilt in the late 70s to early 80s, we definitely paid attention to some of the features of the Astro as well as Ford CL9000, especially the cab air suspension of the latter. I can remember seeing many of the Astro tractors around until Kroger closed the Fort Wayne Indiana Distribution warehouse. 1978 GMC Astro 95 This merger formed the basis of the General Motors Truck Company giving the GMC brand name for their trucks. (Wonder how many other people can say they own not one, butthree brand-new, never-used, 1991 model year boats?). Anytime the driver wants anything from the bunk, the process is the same. In the seven years I worked for them, however, none of the trucks ever moved. The truck had plenty of power and did a good job on the New England highways that I drove on. The left front cab mount failed, the cab has swung around to the right some and landed on the motor. "A Brief Outline of the First Century of GMC Truck History - Generations of GM", Rigs of Rods; GMC Astro 95 & Chevy Titan 90, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=GMC_Astro&oldid=1140760775, Articles needing expert attention from January 2017, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 21 February 2023, at 17:11. I liked the little window in the passenger door. In stark contrast to the boxy Crackerbox, the exterior of the Astro/Titan featured rounded body corners and wraparound windshield glass. convenince and comfort, and safety for operators. me with questions and comments! They were deadly in a head on crash. Stock Number. Special Series. I had a friend who was renting shop space in a building next to a marine machine shop. None were roadworthy, only one was able to be started, and perhaps worst of all, no titles could be produced for any of them. Thanks for the pics of the Astro interior, forgot how nice the dash was. Truckstop Classic: 1959-1961 GMC DLR/DFR 8000 - Curbside Classic 1972 GMC Astro Cabover Truck - Walkaround Exterior Interior Tour - 2021 Clifford Truck Show TruckTube 3.9K views 8 months ago Cabover Peterbilt With Completely Full Trailer FSC Trucking. Just love the old school classics. Save $2,894 right now on a Chevrolet Astro on CarGurus. Their sales as a result, started to dwindle, as a conventional style rig was almost the same price as these flat nose trucks, and they were considerably more comfortable. It is neither inferred nor implied that any item sold by TRUCKiD.com is a product authorized by or in any way connected with any vehicle manufacturers displayed on this page. From the second picture on, I knew it would be enjoyable! I could have sworn I took several of the truck Ill be attempting to feature below, but for some reason I am unable to find them. Maneuverability. It Ever since those got retired (replaced by conventional White-GMC or Volvo-White rigs) I've seen few to no Astros. The model was discontinued in 1987. In 1909, GM purchased the Rapid Motor Vehicle Company founded by Max Grabowsky in 1901 that designed some of the first ever commercial vehicles. Mine was a great truck, simple and reliable. The truck only racked up 85,000 miles in that entire time and the engine only has 2,500 hours on it. Once you removed the enormous doghouse from the cab you could actually do the back 3 cylinders of an in-frame from the drivers seat. It was a family business dad, son, and grandson could all be found down the same hallway. When the shop was sold and moved out of town his land lord offered him 300 bucks to clean out the space. The yard owner and I were talking at the time, and I congratulated him on his win. The vehicles were mostly fitted with school bus bodies. To ensure long and trouble-free service life of your rig, use only high-quality GMC semi truck parts and accessories offered in our online store. As such, several other trucks will be standing in for it at various points. Gauges for the trailer air supply and pressure were GMC Semi Truck Parts & Accessories - TRUCKiD.com $20? On various occasions, I walked in to find the President working a welder and the VP forming sheets of aluminum ahead of him! Equally memorable was a prop which sometimes sat near it: a Dixie cup which contained a spoon and was filled to overflowing with white glue, which had a bit of brown paint stirred in and was allowed to harden. In 1986, Volvo AB entered into a joint venture with General Motors in heavy-truck production, with Volvo taking an 85% stake. [1] In 1977, the Cummins KT450 and Caterpillar 3406 became options; the larger engines required the addition of a larger radiator. Your email address will not be published. But given their neglected state, it also seems likely that their service lives have come to a close. time were adopting. Theres something very nostalgic about seeing these rigs on the road today. It represents the days of trucking we all long for, in todays world of trucking, that is so muddled up and complex with its mounds of unnecessary rules, regs and guidelines. The Astro was also GMs swan song in the big-truck sector, and it never sold in the numbers needed to keep GM truly viable. These Astro cabs had (exterior) styling far ahead of their time, especially the ones with the smaller grille. Radhe Gupta is an Indian business blogger. In contrast to the Crackerbox, the cab of the Astro was lengthened nearly six inches into a 54-inch BBC length with two sleeper cab configurations available. eBay Find: This 1977 GMC Astro 95 Is A Barn Find Big - BangShift.com The location makes sense. I read somewhere that Larry Shinoda had a hand in designing the Astro 95. It was easy for the younger drivers, but not quite so easy for the older truckers! They were legal and they got the job done. As you say, its tough to be distinctive. I am trying to see if by some chance this trailer is still in existence. It takes only one quick glance at a side view, above, to see how the F-Model GMC tilt-cab trucks and tractors of 1959-68 deserved the name "Crackerbox.". Astro featured many things that made it popular and innovative at the One could update the grille and headlights and the Astro 2.0 wouldnt look out of place today in a lineup of new trucks on the dealer lot. Also, by the end of the 1970s, Astro's dashboard had been slightly 800,000 miles, and a rebuild. The early ones, like the red one at top, are better looking than the later ones. Cabover Kings Gmc ASTRO Cab, Misc. Air brakes. The GMC Astro 95 was introduced Some models had quite large sleeper berths. As I recall they were much easier to deal with than most boat companies who prefer to use their dealers for all customer support. The GMC Astro ceased production after the 1987 model year (coincidentally, two years after Chevrolet launched a van with the same name). Still, he remained hopeful that the tons (literally) of aluminum pontoon parts hed also bought would make up for it. COEs have been the standard in Europe since many decades, a conventional truck is rare. On our channel we upload daily, our original, walkaround videos of Trucks, Busses and Commercial Vehicles. Here we have a 1983 GMC Astro. They were mostly Astros, these older small-grille versions, in dark blue. Luckily the shop we are in was originally a heavy equipment shop. On the sweeping floors it may be profitable. The replacement for the F/D-series "Crackerbox" COEs, the Astro was marketed by Chevrolet as the Titan, serving as the largest cabover trucks ever produced by General Motors. It was the oldest design GMC had at the time, and still I spotted this rig several weeks ago while taking a shortcut I rarely use, coming back from picking up a load of equipment bound for the office. Id been itching to make a deal ever since I became aware of their presence in the back of the warehouse some years ago, but my offers to buy had always fallen on deaf ears. It was supposedly a big advance in truck design for its time. Tahoe where I used to work had a tough time getting to stuff on our Pete 320 LCFs. Van Alstyne was one of the female designers mentioned in the book, Damsels in Design, by Constance Smith which came out a couple of years ago and which was mentioned on this site and on others. Depending on when it was made its Road Expeditor II, an Autocar or a Western Star. My good friend and photography mentor loves them. Given the design and material information I hung onto from earlier, I expect to be able to finish their construction fairly easily. 1985 Kenworth Cabover, K-100 Kenworth release the first of their cabovers, in 1955. It was a nice truck but harder to get into tight spots and I was partial to the cabovers. So they dumped their interests in such things as snowmobiles and recreational craft, going hard after that one market they felt was most lucrative. They had great visibility though. It did the job but no one ever confused it with a Peterbilt or a Kenworth. GMC Astro 95 Cabover T/A Road Tractor, ; Vin# TGH928V900010, Special Plate- AC122503, Manual Trans.- NO TITLE . I happened to be at the yard a few days later, and saw the big old GMC roll in on a lowboy trailer. And so it was that I got my one and only surviving picture of the trucks at hand. Near the end of its run, Astro buyers had the option of several Detroit, Caterpillar and Cummins Diesel engines. Also in common with GM products of the day Astros didnt age well, particularly inside the cab. The others weve seen feature yellow and blue interiors. Owned by Ryan Wichtner, FL. Title applied for. Im retired now but own a few Detroit powered 73 GMC 9500 10 wheelers to fool around with. Modern cabovers are built with more structural safety features to protect the driver in the event of a crash. The old semi-cabover A series was replaced by the all-new H We could only make about 59 mph but I was cool and comfortable as I cruised the highway. They were once very common, particularly in fleet service. Another controversial feature of it was The one thing that cabover interiors are best known for is the way they can camouflage some of their interior panels. Out here, the farmers still run Brigadiers, Generals, and Ford Louisvilles. The new model has replaced the line of C/M 90/9500 trucks. Following the launch of the cabover product line in 1969, the GMC Astro quickly exceeded the Chevrolet Titan in sales and market share. It was hell. The truck was still in warranty, the service rep didnt want to replace all the parts we planned on replacing. For example, if you were going to hide your wallet in the back seat of your car and dont want anyone to see it, you can create an interior that has a large panel that covers it up. The dealer I worked at had a large rural customer base. I vaguely recall it being at/near a T intersection. Complete details for 1900 GMC ASTRO 95 For Sale In Boonsboro, . The blue cabooses have interiors that are usually made of plastic. In a surprise win, I ended up with both the seventeen-footers and one of the two unfinished sixteens for just a few hundred dollars. Thats probably half the reason I was brought in: I worked cheap, I was willing to horse around with their archaic equipment, and I could manage to keep a sense of humor about it. The GMC Astro was offered in single or double rear axle configurations. Overspray bedamned, Ill take it! We can order those things? These old school cabover trucks, whetherKenworth,Peterbilt,Freightliner, White, GMC, Ford, Diamond Reo or old Crackerbox, meantfreedom, simplicity, open roads, good memories and yes, some back aches. The Astro died honorably with - YouTube 0:00 / 0:53 1986 GMC Astro cabover day cab. The trailers, each one brand-new and built to their specifications, were a sort of light-duty lowboy that attached to this odd hitch, upon which the boats could be stacked two high along their entire length of forty-some feet. time. Id suspect a lot of their business came from a few good dealers, and especially from operators of a small fleet of big rigs but a varied fleet of everything who would appreciate a one-stop shop where they could get heavy haulers to get the product out, pickups and vans for *their* service techs and sedans for the sales reps through one dealership and one contract. Ive got several more for later on in the week, but hey why not start with the biggest? Thats actually not an Astro. He told me that when he purchased one in the mid 70s he test drove a Pete 352 (COE) and got the impression that it had inferior build quality to the Astro. The white cabooses have interiors that are usually made of glass. They are also becoming wildly popular at truck shows. I was astounded when he paid $3500 for the title-less derelict Astro; upon looking it over again (just to see if Id missed something), I couldnt understand how he was making money on it at that price. They also all open in a certain way (although they differ in this area). The model was dubbed the GMC B-Series and stayed in production for three generations. There was no coming back after that. With that in mind, we have gathered high-quality GMC parts and accessories that work the first time, every time. Its the only one of the three weve seen that has a black, red, and blue interior. Old Dutch was a really good customer. Im very familiar with both the Astro and the Transtar. Shopping with us, you get parts and accessories that work hard just like you, built tough just like your vehicle. They were tough to get out of after a long day of driving, and the ride in them was pretty firm. Production ran from 1969 until late 1987, when GM merged their heavy truck operation with Volvo/White the Astro 95 was replaced by the Volvo version of the White Road Commander II, probably a step backward. 1978 GMC Astro Cabover Tour - YouTube Heck, it reminds me of the good old days when there were way less laws and regs. No; the Astro was unique to GMC and Chevrolet (Titan). I love the old KW100E. The Road Commander cab has certainly outlived the Astro, granted only tangentially as the White/WhiteGMC/Volvo/Autocar/etc Xpeditor, further modified as the modern day Autocar ACX. The wrap around dash and placement of the controls and instruments was perfect. Upgrades to the truck's suspension improved its handling and ride, as well. 1975 GMC Astro 95 Cabover Truck - AS-IS - govdeals.com document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Not a bad days work. You could get Cummins and later the 3406 Cat, but the vast majority had 71 and 92 series Jimmys in them. Interior. For over a century, GMC has been offering a wide range of commercial and military grade vehicles, as well as genuine auto parts. Its grainy and basically useless, but unless I find the others, that may well be all that remains of these rigs. Find the 9 highest paying truck driver jobs in 2022. Cab is up in the air, a crack noise followed by some crunching sounds. Now for those of you who have seen dbl bunk Astro's yes there were some after market dbl bunk conversions. Right on about the crappy service with GMC dealers. Cohort Pic(k) of the Day: Yugo When Was The Last Time You Saw One? Guess I did a better job than necessary, in this case! Theres a bit more thought put into them now but wrap around dashboards are still the norm, the fake wood is still with us though the 2011 International I was driving was covered in the stuff. I dont recall the politics of GMs medium and heavy duty truck sales but if you sold MD and HD you could order either Chevy or GMC or a mix of both. Having already acquired White Motor Company in 1980, the joint venture would do business as Volvo GM Heavy Truck Corporation, selling trucks under the combined WhiteGMC product badge. before, and some were cut as cost-savings. A truly excellent truck! In 1976, another 9 of length was allowed, for a maximum 75 allowance. These gems were a challenge to drive without power steering. Its a working truck, too! Heres the (much older and smaller) Bedford TK: The first major update to the Astro was the Special Series trim Buyer's premium included in price USD $458. I still have a few anti-tamper ECM decals laying around somewhere. You've disabled JavaScript in your web browser. CC Outtake: 1975 Austin 1300 MK3 Please Do Not Adjust Your Set, Curbside Classic: 1978 Oldsmobile Omega Grandmas BMW, Streetside Classic: 1974 El Cherito GMs BTV Dreams Project, In-Motion Classic: 1970 Pontiac Bonneville Convertible Hot Mustard. This model was designed to have a higher cab, bigger rad, and a larger engine, than its predecessor. Some truckers wore full length snowmobile suits in them, just to stay warm! A popular model of truck, with COE fans, and with a following and some clubs across North America. But every end is merely a new beginning. at the Hollywood Park Truck Show in Ingleside, CA in 1969. Call or email for more information. It had the red and white paint scheme but but was otherwise pretty plain, with cast spoke wheels and painted fuel tanks. These continued to remain as GMC's main class But never when I have my camera with me. And 35 years ago no computerized support systems. Old Dutch plant located in Minneapolis. They have a special look. Enjoy our hassle-free online checkout or call to speak to an expert. Please email mewith questions and comments! EnterpriseVander Haags Inc Sp Spencer IA. Diesel (unable to determine engine model, but based on serial number would have a Detroit 8v71). Copyright 2011 - 2023 Curbside Classics. He later ran an early 90s GMC Brig as his assigned tractor for Yellow Freight before retirement. USED - Door side vent, Does not include interior trim, Needs seal, Cab over. was loved by owners and operators alike. The Astro 95 is my first big truck of the week, and also the biggest truck in my files. But, theyre almost all sitting in the weeds, done forever. As a result, I finally got a chance to get up close and personal with their fleet of trucks. The big windshields and door glass gave a full view of the road. for it was optional. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. In 1916, GMC made headlines when a husband and wife drove the GMC pickup truck from Seattle to New York in 30 days. Apparently, many was the visitor who attempted to dip their fingers into it! Please email economy. Drive Side. That was all there was to drive at one time. Ive never run a General, but the Brigadiers dont seem to hold up nearly as well as the Fords.
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