WHAT IS IT?
That Astro was Chevrolet’s first entry into the Minivan Wars of the 1980s. First introduced in 1985 it lasted for two generations until 2005. Unlike more successful entries into the burgeoning family minivan market like the Dodge Caravan (which really defined the class), the Astro was a rear-wheel-drive body-on-frame vehicle essentially a shrunken version of the company’s full-sized vans. Over 20 years, GM reportedly sold over 3 million of these due to their durability and flexibility as commercial vehicles as well. AWD versions of the Astro have a bit of a cult following these days and GM was first to go after this sub genre but, alas, dropped the idea when subsequent FWD unibody entries replaced the Astro.
This one is a RWD base passenger model with the 4.3 Liter V6 engine from the redesigned second generation of the van.
WHY THIS ONE HAS BEST ONE ON THE PLANET CHOPS
Despite the production volume of these vans, when is the last time you saw a nice one? It is hard to conceive of an Astro Van without spilled juice box stains in the 2nd and 3rd row seats, mall parking lot battle scars and at least 250k miles on the odometer. But here is a 21k mile example. One might expect to see a low milage example of a highly optioned version that was cherished for its high original window sticker, but base models were immediately sent to the front lines to do suburban battle in school drop off zones, commercial uses, and helping friends move bulky furniture. The plastics on the Dutch rear doors aren’t even scratched and the wheel wells don’t have any road grime in them. The underside looks remarkably clean as well. This is one owner vehicle and that owner didn’t use this van, at all. There must be a remarkable story about how this van came to survive in this state that we’d love to hear.
There must be a remarkable story about how this van came to survive in this state that we’d love to hear.
2003 Chevrolet Astro for sale in Hudson, NY – Broadway Garage Of Columbia County Inc.
Well, this looks like a bargain warehouse fridge on styled steel wheels, but it is absolutely incredible. Nobody went out of their way to take care of these, ever. By the looks of it, this might be the only one that ever even had wax applied to its roof. Maybe there’s a more perfect one sitting abandoned in a government warehouse in the Mojave Desert, awaiting extraterrestrial pandemic response duty or something, but I doubt it. I think this is the best one extant.
This is a bare-bones example, usually put into service, used up and forgotten. How did this escape that horrible pattern?