Also, by the end of the 1970s, Astro's dashboard had been slightly The best trucks ever. By the time you had everything jacked up and secured you could barely work the transmission out of the narrow frame rails. for it was optional. This must be the Astros counterpart from across the pond, the English 1974-1986 Bedford TM. Picture of my Titan 90 north of Portland Maine 1979. The Astro was available as a 58 in BBC Day Cab, and a 86 in BBC And when I came on in 2006, things werent looking pretty. In 1909, GM purchased the Rapid Motor Vehicle Company founded by Max Grabowsky in 1901 that designed some of the first ever commercial vehicles. I wouldnt be so quick to write the Road Commander off as an Astro copy, Larry Shinoda of Mustang and Corvette fame was the man behind the design. The sleeper provided ample room and comfort, and air conditioning In 1981, General Motors ended sales of heavy trucks by the Chevrolet Division, leading to the cancellation of the Chevrolet Bruin, Bison, and Titan. 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. The GMC Astro 95 was introduced The left front cab mount failed, the cab has swung around to the right some and landed on the motor. A third-party browser plugin, such as Ghostery or NoScript, is preventing JavaScript from running. Buyer's premium included in price USD $458. This retro truck style is rising to the surface once again for particular working applications. All rights reserved. The cabover truck design is outdated for the North American highway infrastructure. Overspray bedamned, Ill take it! It did the job but no one ever confused it with a Peterbilt or a Kenworth. The next year I was put in a brand new leased 1979 GMC General. Isuzu Bedford might be the name down under, the blue one is very clearly a (Euro) Bedford TM. Or perhaps some do-gooder finally threw it away. This was also used in the prototype Starting in 1980, the company offered the GMC TopKick. In 1943, General Motors absorbed Yellow Coach, a Chicago-based bus manufacturer, forming the GM Truck and Coach Division. Tahoe where I used to work had a tough time getting to stuff on our Pete 320 LCFs. The plastic type is often found in the back of a truck, but it can be found in a few other areas as well. Oddly enough they still use what cabovers are left for boat transport. Cochran Auctioneers & Associates LTD Boonsboro, Maryland. It was easy for the younger drivers, but not quite so easy for the older truckers! It also lacked most of the personalized touches this one hasno fancy clearance lights or custom paint jobs here! The others weve seen feature yellow and blue interiors. Distinguished by its boxy appearance, it earned the nickname "Crackerbox. But the pontoon-hauler wasnt quite as fancy as this one. relocated to next to the trailer air brake lever itself, as shown. So they dumped their interests in such things as snowmobiles and recreational craft, going hard after that one market they felt was most lucrative. The dealer I worked at had a large rural customer base. Must have been a big Chevy truck dealer out there. There were approximately seven built, all told; they were prototypes for a new line that never got off the ground. Our goal is to support you and your business. Noisy. The Astro 95 had superior driver visibility. Thanks for visiting my page! Class 8 cabover highway trucks are still manufactured at a plant in North Carolina. Now for those of you who have seen dbl bunk Astro's yes there were some after market dbl bunk conversions. Much different then cars boats are still a little bit in the wild west of manufacturing. (Ever the penny-pinchers, they opted to apply the same logo stickers to the trucks as they did to their boats.). They were mostly Astros, these older small-grille versions, in dark blue. Drove these trucks for years. If I recall correctly, there were a few of these made with GMC badges on them when White and GMC merged their heavy truck operations in the late 80s. This is because they are usually made of steel, and they are also available in other materials, such as plastic. grille, chromed accessories, deluxe interior levels fog lights, and Clean, classy, and very GM. The cabover interiors caboose is a unique design concept that is made possible by the fact that it has black and red interiors. However, there was a downside that accompanied this accessibility. Ever since those got retired (replaced by conventional White-GMC or Volvo-White rigs) I've seen few to no Astros. 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. They are also becoming wildly popular at truck shows. That was all there was to drive at one time. I dont recall who won it, but I do remember that they paid $300 for the privilege. 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. It had chrome bumpers, a chrome grille, and a single chrome exhaust stack, but the gas tank was steel, as were the wheels. Dan is hoping to use this truck in the summer to haul hay. Of course, being a cabover it tilted forward for access to that huge Detroit Diesel mill. Can anyone tell me where this picture was taken. It had the red and white paint scheme but but was otherwise pretty plain, with cast spoke wheels and painted fuel tanks. Postal Code: 7 LOT #: 10062 Save 1986 GMC ASTRO Sleeper Trucks Buyer's premium included in price USD $120.00 GMC COE single axle. The Great Lakes Truck Club hosts the Clifford Truck Show, featuring a hot line-up of cabovers, Macks and older model rigs. Orders went through Ma Bell. Save $2,894 right now on a Chevrolet Astro on CarGurus. In 1916, GMC made headlines when a husband and wife drove the GMC pickup truck from Seattle to New York in 30 days. Some of the time in a cabover International and the rest in an Astro 95 then a Chevy Titan 90. This 1974 model was one of the last trucks to travel down the assembly line before the company went bankrupt in late 1974. The early ones, like the red one at top, are better looking than the later ones. The early COE trucks were also very cold, as they werent well insulated. No wonder they were called Freightshakers! I had wanted to grab the ice cream sundaeas a souvenir, too, but someone else beat me to it. EnterpriseVander Haags Inc Sp Spencer IA. In fact they were as cold as hell! They have a special look. I drove one in 71 for two years, with a V12 Detroit engine. They are very similar at a glance. Box Truck - Straight Truck,Cabover Truck - COE Trucks For Sale in Provo, UT: 38 Box Truck - Straight Truck,Cabover Truck - COE Trucks Near You - Find Box Truck - Straight Truck,Cabover Truck - COE Trucks on Commercial Truck Trader. I understood that much of the interior and the dashboard were designed by a woman named Martha Jayne Van Alstyne, who also worked on the interior of the 68 Corvette. My first impression? It used a single hyd cylinder on the right hand side of the frame. This gives good access to the motor for maintenance and repair. [1] Featuring a (much) larger radiator grille, improvements to exterior and interior trim, the SS package was meant to market the Astro/Titan towards owner-operators. Speaking of aluminum, perhaps the strangest item offered for bids was the right to sweep the floorswhich the auctioneer claimed would yield barrels worth of aluminum shavings if done correctly. Cochran Auctioneers & Associates LTD Boonsboro, Maryland 21713 Phone: (301) 739-0538 Email Seller Video Chat In addition to the regular cab, a sleeper cab was available as an option. GMC. To get out, the trucker had to more or less, back out of the cab door, while hanging onto a railing on the door. 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. Enjoy our hassle-free online checkout or call to speak to an expert. I read somewhere that Larry Shinoda had a hand in designing the Astro 95. Made money. From some of the old Overdrive magazines Ive seen, Ford was even worse for HD parts and service to the point they refused Fords advertising for years over it. This model was designed to have a higher cab, bigger rad, and a larger engine, than its predecessor. Please email mewith questions and comments! USD $3,300 . !, and please SUBSCRIBE, LIKE, COMMENT, hit the NOTIFICATION BELL, and have a look at our other channels:https://www.youtube.com/automototube - AutoMotoTube - Car and Motorcycle walkaround videoshttps://www.youtube.com/c/motorcycletube - MotorCycleTube - Motorcycle walkaround videoshttps://www.youtube.com/c/BoatTube - BoatTube - Motor and Sailing yachts walkaround videoshttps://www.youtube.com/c/Bicycletube - BicycleTube - Bicycle walkaround videoshttps://www.youtube.com/c/atvtube - ATVTube - All Terrain Vehicle walkaround videos 1975 GMC Astro Cabover Truck - AS-IS. These gems were a challenge to drive without power steering. [1] In 1979, the 6-71 was replaced by the 6V92, making all available Detroit Diesel engines V-engines; the 6V71 was discontinued after 1980.[1]. This included special paint, a larger chromed front It seemed certain that these once-proud rigs would be fed to the crusher soon. Anyway, I drove one when I was 12 years old around the lot, and I will never forget that dashboard of that windshield, or how sharp of a turn it could make. Werent the other two trucks Internationals? No; the Astro was unique to GMC and Chevrolet (Titan). I drove a COE for the first ten years or so of my driving career. USED - Door side vent, Does not include interior trim, Needs seal, Cab over. 1983 Freightliner COE Rig This gorgeous rig was on display at the Clifford Truck Show. Hes the one that hired me. Now for those of you who have seen dbl bunk Astro's yes there were some after market dbl bunk conversions. 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. The cabover truck is an icon. Still, it was a new truck and I was pretty happy with it. The gmc astro cabover features a black interior with a white caboose. Loved it when trucks had real character. I also lucked out on a few items from their shop, such as this toolbox. Old Dutch was a really good customer. A cabover rig isnt as safe as a long hood rig, in the event of an accident, as there just isnt any protection for the driver. To draw attention to the brand, GMC launched the promotional campaign using several country cross-overs. As a result, I finally got a chance to get up close and personal with their fleet of trucks. They would haul trailer loads of potatoes in from Idaho with these rigs. But they are still the gold standard in Europe, Australia and Japan. Parts Side Vent W/ Inside Cover, Needs Seal, Cab Over. After its discontinuation, GM exited the heavy-duty truck market. Generals were actually a pretty good truck, at least competitive with the Transtar 4200/4300 and better than the various Loiusvilles from Ford. It could go maybe 65 mph tops. For this reason, they are still popular in Europe, where the roadways are generally narrower, with tight clearances, and even more congested than in North America. He later ran an early 90s GMC Brig as his assigned tractor for Yellow Freight before retirement. . As you say, its tough to be distinctive. Updated: Sat, April 10, 2021 5:09 PM Get Shipping Quotes - (Opens in a new tab) Apply for Financing - (Opens in a new tab) No image. On our channel we upload daily, our original, walkaround videos of Trucks, Busses and Commercial Vehicles. The cabover interior is unique because it is the only one that has a caboose. Although Volvo GM would continue sales of COE trucks under the White GMC and Western Star brands (the WhiteGMC WH and Western Star Cabover; both versions of the White Road Commander II), the GMC Astro was never directly replaced by Volvo GM, Volvo, or General Motors. IHC dealers usually at least understood that an out-of-service truck meant someone wasnt making their wages. Gauges for the trailer air supply and pressure were It was hell. Luckily the shop we are in was originally a heavy equipment shop. Easily find what you need from 2,312,977 parts available. Its been stretched, and also has a tag axle. After completing the CAPTCHA below, you will immediately regain access to the site again. In addition to light trucks, this meant a potential GMC franchise needed the ability to support medium-duty trucks, heavy-duty commercial trucks, the GMC motorhome, P-chassis, and school bus chassis. Following the 1980 model year, Chevrolet exited the heavy-truck segment; thereafter, alongside the Brigadier and General conventionals, the Astro was marketed solely under the GMC brand. GM originally intended to offer an Allison gas turbine engine as an option in the Astro 95 alongside the various Detroit and Cummins diesels when the truck was introduced. 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. They are also usually found on the back of a car, but they can be found in other areas as well. [1] In 1983, the Aero Astro option package was released, largely as an effort to improve fuel economy. My Dad drove so many of these, his knees still rattle and shake! sides of the truck. ASTRO 95. When the shop was sold and moved out of town his land lord offered him 300 bucks to clean out the space. Cabovers werent necessary dangerously. Most kids wanted to go to the beach, but my favourite thing was to head for a truck stop! Restoration completed recently. AS IS Sold Price: USD $1,120.00 Auction Ended: Wed, Feb 17, 2021 4:04 PM View Buyer's Premium Financial Calculator Stock Number: 520 VIN: 1GDT9L4C1GV541124 Drive Side: Left Hand Drive Aahhhh yes, I spent many a day in these. In the seven years I worked for them, however, none of the trucks ever moved. rearranged. The Feed Body, model unknown cabover It also has a black, white, time. Visibility was not very good and made life tough in some of the tight spots in the old cities and towns I delivered to. I love the old KW100E. In the period from 1978 to 1988, General Motors offered the GMC Brigadier, a heavy-duty class 7-8 short-hood truck available in straight-truck and semi-tractor configurations. Your commercial medium- or heavy-duty truck needs to be in perfect working condition to be able to make money. when the cab was tipped, anything and everything in the truck and sleeper berth that wasnt glued down, would fall onto the windshield of the truck! 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. (Bedford being a GM division.). My son and I still drive this truck and trailer every week from San Diego California, to LA. They are truly special trucks, and I think were going to see many more of them on the road, as truckers restore them to drive, to relive some of the past. The nose of the semi is flat and the truck cab sits on top of the diesel engine and steering axle. Placement of the truck cab over the motor saved some length. "[1][2] Available in a 48-inch BBC (bumper to back of cab) length, the truck was produced with an all-aluminum fully tilting cab. GM engineers began working on a new truck that would meet (USED) GMC ASTRO DOOR SIDE VENT, DOES NOT INCLUDE INTERIOR TRIM, NEEDS SEAL, CAB OVER $242 USD Located in Spencer, IA, US Email Seller (855) 370-___ Seller Information Vander Haag's Inc. 3809 4th Ave W Spencer, IA 51301-2082 United States Get Directions View all Inventory (154948) Get Shipping Quotes Save Price Alert Send to a Friend Print Listing Because of the regulations for length, this style of rig was very popular in it's day. Its interior became much more spacious due to an optional sleeper cab. The wrap around dash and placement of the controls and instruments was perfect. You're a power user moving through this website with super-human speed. Right on about the crappy service with GMC dealers. Im very familiar with both the Astro and the Transtar. Thanks for the history of the company. Following the launch of the cabover product line in 1969, the GMC Astro quickly exceeded the Chevrolet Titan in sales and market share. My good friend and photography mentor loves them. It doesnt have the sunshade, but otherwise it is a dead ringer. The GMC Astro and Chevrolet Titan are Class 8 cabover-engine (COE) trucks, sold in both single and tandem rear axle configurations. GMC Astro had a windshield that seemed to come down to knee level! Im very familiar with TK Bedfords I drove them years ago. Cab is up in the air, a crack noise followed by some crunching sounds. To get in the sleeper bunk the driver of the rig must crawl through a hole. Alongside a 702 cubic-inch GMC V12 gasoline engine, the truck was available with the Detroit Diesel 6V71 and 8V71 engines. Truck has dual power windows tilt wheel, extra gages. TGH928V900010. They were quite safe if they were driven with respect. Interior. You've disabled JavaScript in your web browser. The white cabooses have interiors that are usually made of glass. 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. The GMC Astro is a heavy-duty class 8 cabover truck that was unveiled in 1969 as the replacement for the GMC cabover semi truck produced during 1960-1968 that received the nickname "Crackerbox" for its boxy-shaped cabin. (Wonder how many other people can say they own not one, butthree brand-new, never-used, 1991 model year boats?). This is not one of them. 94, with LT1 power, velour seating, and a trunk rack. But now a sighting of a working cabover truck on the road is more rare. One of the other farms runs a fleet thats all GMC on the older stuff. $4,000.00 1979 GMC Astro cabover semi tractor Detroit 892v 13 speed 54,276 actual mileage 2,324 hours Starts and runs great. What can I do, I have diesel in my veins and Detroits in my heart. Here are some comments sent in from truckers. We had a fair number of Brigadiers with 6-71s in them, not nice to work on. Perhaps even these Jeeps were big trucks in a past life. wide panoramic glass provided excellent vision to the front and the Gmc ASTRO Cab, Misc. I actually had to call Ercoa once working a claim on a boat. It featured an all-aluminum cab with a 108-inch or 116-inch hood. The GMC Astro (also known as the Chevrolet Titan) is a heavy-duty (Class 8) cabover truck that was manufactured by the GMC Truck and Coach Division of General Motors from the 1969 to 1987 model years. As I recall they were much easier to deal with than most boat companies who prefer to use their dealers for all customer support. I love my truck and it will be around for a long time to come. The first 1,000,000 miles of my driving was in trucks like these. It seems like there must be hundreds of RV, boat, etc manufacturers that have shuttered or consolidated in the past 2 decades. Cab won't release to tilt. [2] Along with single or tandem axle configurations, the GMC Crackerbox was available with a sleeper cab. They were indeed good-looking trucks. The last GMC B-Series left the assembly line in 2003. Drivers had to be careful of foot placement, or else theyd end up falling on the ground! Drove them back in 88 when I started driving with Schneider National. Maintenance and Repair A cabover is repaired by tilting the entire cab forward. There are folks who thought the Astro was a rip off of a Mack design from the early 60s. I also have a soft spot for the Astro along with the Brigadeir and General. 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. So, in 1987, GMC sold the heavy duty operation to Volvo, and For some reason most of the few I saw were rag-tag owner-ops out of Quebec. In 1987, GM ended the production of the GMC General. [2] For the 1969 model year, the GMC Crackerbox was replaced by the GMC Astro, while the Chevrolet Titan was unveiled for the 1970 model year.[3][4]. Anytime the driver wants anything from the bunk, the process is the same. The Astro 95 is my first big truck of the week, and also the biggest truck in my files. GMC Astro 95 Cabover T/A Road Tractor, ; Vin# TGH928V900010, Special Plate- AC122503, Manual Trans.- NO TITLE Sold By: J.G. Old Dutch plant located in Minneapolis. The cabover has black, red, and white interiors. Who knows? Special Series. A larger cab provided more interior space and greater comfort for the driver, and larger windows allowed for better driver visibility. Today, it is one of the most recognizable marques in the industry. Single rear axle. There was also the memorable wrap-around dashboard, all decked out in woodgrain. Cabover interiors are always black and have that kind of chrome finish that makes them look menacing and slightly menacing. At that time, another local company, Boatel, was looking to divest itself of several product lines so it could focus on its core business, manufacturing yachts. GMC Astro 95 Cabover T/A Road Tractor, ; Vin# TGH928V900010, Special Plate- AC122503, Manual Trans.- NO TITLE . A popular model of truck, with COE fans, and with a following and some clubs across North America. I was only supposed to keep the Titan until the Astro was fixed but I couldnt go back to that noisy sweat box now. Recommended Company Sponsored Schools, Requirements, pros + cons, what to expect from company-sponsored cdl training programs. Didnt most of these Astro / Titan trucks use Detroit Diesel power? One of my most exciting or tense days involved a White Road Commander. Item:24627543 Spencer, IA $242.00. In contrast to other GM brands, a key requirement of GMC franchisees of the time was the ability to sell and service the entire GMC product line. The cabover is one of the most unique interiors weve found. It was a family business dad, son, and grandson could all be found down the same hallway. I had lots of scares over the years but that one was probably the most tense because it took a quite of bit of time to pull this off and get that cab sitting back down on its mounts. Chevy Turbo Titan III. The interior is ruff, Dan is rebuilding the engine so as to keep it orignal. The payments on bulldozers and other such equipment are pretty high, and they have to be working to keep the cash coming in. There still seems to be a factory GM radio still installed in that rig, I always thought these had an interesting dash, semi wraparound, isolating the driver in the business section of the cockpit. 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. The GMC Astro ceased production after the 1987 model year (coincidentally, two years after Chevrolet launched a van with the same name). Broken lights and lenses throughout. And so it was that I got my one and only surviving picture of the trucks at hand. He told me he took out over $2500 in bronze copper and aluminum shavings. I was assigned a 81 model with a 63 as a backup spare truck It was truly a great truck. Could be theres more badges these wore. I can remember the day we got in a shipment of tools and manuals for the 91 Syclone. 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. Succeeding the F/D-series "Crackerbox" cabovers, the Astro was marketed by Chevrolet as the Titan, serving as the largest cabover trucks ever produced by General Motors. Some truckers wore full length snowmobile suits in them, just to stay warm! Cabover trucks werent particularly comfortable, back in the early years. Three of the sixteen-footers were completed and used for testing and promotions; this catalog picture depicts the very same boat seen above, only twenty-two years earlier. This truck was tight, the Cummins was purrfectly quiet and smooth and I was liking that. Its interesting to hear about what happens to these manufacturing companies when they close. Ever since those got retired (replaced by conventional White-GMC or Volvo-White rigs) Ive seen few to no Astros. COEs in general seem to be on the way out, though there is a big black Kenworth COE that hauls container trailers to and from the local port on the James River. A few words about their personal connection and memories of cabovers. and they will be posted! The old semi-cabover A series was replaced by the all-new H Ive never run a General, but the Brigadiers dont seem to hold up nearly as well as the Fords. Definitely a product of White Motor Company or one of its spin offs. Its a working truck, too! From the second picture on, I knew it would be enjoyable! The largest cabover trucks ever produced by GM, the Astro was introduced for 1969, replacing the 1960-1968 GMC "Crackerbox" COEs. None of this stuff is even broken in! 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.