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Here's the story:
Illustrated Corvette Series No. 31 - 1968
Corvette
"From Show Car To Road Machine"
By September 1967, Corvette fans had been teased for 2-1/2 years with the
promise of a new Vette. Chevrolet and Bill Mitchell had been showing off the
Mako Shark II and everyone was expecting some sort of "shark" Corvette. When the
wraps came off, it wasn't quite the Mako Shark, but it was definitely a
Corvette, and Chevrolet was taking orders.
Corvettes were always unique,
but this was "space-age" in 1967. There was nothing like it on either side of
the Atlantic. Some kind of "Italian" was a close as one could get because of all
the curves. It looked like a 200-mph sex-goddess in your driveway. But all that
grace and style was very hard to nail down, with battles between engineering,
styling and marketing. Some wanted the new Corvette to be based on the Corvair
while others were concerned that the Z-28 Camaro would eat into the Corvette's
sales volume. Mitchell wanted the Mako Shark to be the next Vette while Duntov
was pushing for a mid-engine Corvette. The new Corvette was supposed to be a
1967 model, but the pieces just couldn't come together in time.
Even
though the new Corvette picked up almost all of its running gear from the 1967
Corvette, much had to be modified and much was new. New external features
included vacuum- operated pop-up headlights and a vacuum-operated closet to
conceal the windshield wipers. The coupe version had lift-out roof panels for a
semi-roadster look and the near vertical rear window was removable for
free-flowing air. The 427-optioned Corvettes had a hood bulge with "427" badges
on both sides.
The interior was totally new, with its dash raking back
and the two main gauges over the steering wheel. Other gauges were located on
the console. Aero bucket seats had built-in head rests. The new three- speed
Turbo-Hydramatic was optional along with dozens of other goodies.
Fans
bought 28,566 new Corvettes in 1968 even though quality wasn't what it should
have been for a $5,500 car. But it was new and it ran like nobody's business!
Here's the story:
lllustrated Corvette Series No. 35 -1968
Astro I Mid-Engine Experimental Corvette
Almost from the beginning, there have been those at Chevrolet who wanted
the Corvette to be "something else." Along the way there have been proposals to
soften the Corvette, add a back seat, and to use steel for the body. The Astro I
proposed using an opposed, flat-six, Corvair engine. Fortunately, this was one
for the history books.
The official purpose of the Astro I was to study
aerodynamics and new features. Engineers had long known that frontal area and
shape were major factors in how slippery a car is in high-speed air. Much of
what we take for granted in aerodynamics was new territory in the mid '60s. For
this study, function followed form.
To keep the front profile as low as
possible, a modified, flat, opposed-six Corvair engine was placed behind the
rear wheels. Although a far cry from the rip-snort'n 427s of the day, the little
176 cubic-inch enginewas made of alloy aluminum with steel cylinder sleeves and
featured single overhead cams, hemi heads, Weber carburetors, and made 240
horsepower. That's 1.4 hp per cubic inch!
The unibody construction had
large boxed side sill members that added stiffness as well as housing a fuel
cell on the passenger side. The bulkhead behind the driver and the forged
aluminum windshield header provided rollover protection.
The front and
rear suspension used double wishbones and four-wheel disc brakes. Wheels and
tires hadn't gotten fat yet, so 5.5 inch and 7.0 inch wheels were used front and
back.
Note the absence of any normal door lines. The entire canopy hinged
up from a pivot point behind the rear wheels. Since the car was 35.5 inches
tall, 12.3 inches shorter than a '68 Corvette, the seats were fixed to the
canopy and actually raised up so that you could step into the interior. This was
not a rainy day car.
The Astro I had many styling tricks that were
standard for GM study cars; a closet at the base of the windshield for wipers,
pop-up spoiler brake lights, access panels on the hood for servicing fluids, and
periscope rear view mirrors. The interior had the gauges, warning lights, and
twin-grip steering control device. Trick stuff in 1967.
At only 35.5
inches tall, the Astro I was as low as a Countach, 15 years earlier. Too bad it
wasn't packing a 427. Oh well.
Here's the story:
lIlustrated Corvette Series No. 36 - 1968
Astro II Mid-Engine Experimental Corvette
Almost from the beginning, racing has made the Corvette a living legend.
Sports car development in the 1960s was explosive, and at the cutting edge was
the Ford GT40 and the Chevrolet-backed Chaparral, both using a mid-engine
layout. The Astro II (XP-880) was the first of several experimental, mid-engine
Corvettes that kicked off years of exotic sports car anticipation.
Ford
started the race by first offering a street version of their GT40, called "Mark
III" and then by unveiling the "Mach 2" experimental mid-engine car in May 1967.
Designers at Chevrolet went right to work on their own version of a mid-engine
Corvette. After 11 months, the Astro II was shown, immediately initiating a
blizzard of speculation asking the question, "Is this the next Vette?"
By
using off-the-shelf parts, the designers were able to deliver the car quickly,
and at a relatively low cost. However, because of a lack of serious commitment
by Chevrolet, the car was made using an out of production, '63 Pontiac Tempest,
two-speed transaxle. Ford, on the other hand, had a race-proven, four-speed
manual gear box for the Mach 2. The big question was, if pushed into production,
would a two-speed automatic Corvette be taken seriously. Probably
not.
Despite its built-in design weakness, the Astro II was a very
interesting effort. It certainly looked exotic and screamed "Corvette" with its
body styling. The Astro II used a central backbone frame and thick doors that
housed safety beams. The 20-gallon fuel cell was located in the center of the
frame. The engine, suspension and drivetrain were all attached to the central
frame. With a 427 engine, this made the car more like a Can-Am racer than a
street car. Even with production Camaro and Corvette suspension parts, and
performance street tires, the Astro II generated 1.0 g of cornering grip. This
was part of the magic of a mid-engine sports car. Astro II weighed in at 3,300
pounds, 300 less than a production Corvette, yet had almost the same external
dimensions.
While the Astro II was being track tested in Spring 1968,
Duntov and his crew were busy working on their solution to the transaxle
problem, the stunning XP-882. This one almost made it to the showroom.
Here's the story:
lllustrated Corvette Series No.
37 - 1968 Astro-Vette Show Car
By the late '60s, automotive stylists and engineers were seriously
looking at aerodynamics. Race cars were using all sorts of exotic wings and
spoilers. Even hot street cars were using chin spoilers and rear deck spoilers
or wings. C2 Corvettes always had a front end lift problem at high speeds. The
new '68 Corvette had a small chin spoiler and a slight up-lip at the back end,
but the car still had lift problems.
The Astro-Vette was an aerodynamic
study to see how slippery the Corvette could be made. Although some criticized
the car as being pure schmaltz, two notable styling features were picked up in
1973 and 1974. Pontiac was already offering "Endura" front bumpers on the GTO,
so it looks like designers may have been thinking in that direction.
What
they probably were not thinking about in 1968 was 5- mph front and rear bumpers.
In 1973, when most cars got huge, chrome, front bumpers, Corvettes got the
Astro-Vette treatment. Then in 1974, the tail end was restyled, a la
Astro-Vette.
Designers went with the sex-appeal of a roadster. If they
had really been serious, a coupe version with a low, tear-drop, C2 Sting Ray
roof line would have been sweet.
The obvious features on the Astro-Vette
were the extended nose, roadster windshield, closed rear wheel openings and
extended tail. The nose was extended considerably and the grille opening was
kept to a minimum. The long hood has no budge, indicating that the car was a
small-block. Scribe-lines on the front fenders were to be pressure actuated
flaps that opened if under-the-hood pressure was too high. Designers took
advantage of the B-pillar by crafting an airfoil to minimize air drag. Taking
cues from the hot cars of the '30s, the Astro-Vette had smooth wheel disks on
very narrow tires, and rear fender skirts that were hinged at the top for tire
access. Like the front, the back end was extended and tapered. Designers even
added partial front and rear belly pans to smooth underside airflow. The
interior was medium blue and stock, except for the racing steering
wheel.
Most folks didn't know what to make of the Astro-Vette. Chevy
insiders called it, "Moby Dick," in essence calling it a big, white, whale. The
Astro-Vette faded away, eventually making its mark on Corvette styling. But a
serious Bonneville attempt would have really had our attention.
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