1969 Chevrolet Astro III Concept

The 1969 Chevrolet Astro III was a sleek, two-passenger experimental car resembling an executive jet aircraft, even its tricycle-type wheel arrangement. It was envisioned as a high-performance vehicle suited for travel on restricted access or possibly systems-controlled interstate highways of the future.

The Astro III vehicle, with its red and black fiberglass body, tapered to a slim nose enclosing twin tires on a joint pivot, giving the appearance of a single front wheel. A power-actuated canopy moved forward and upward from the passenger compartment to provide accessible entrance and exit to the specially contoured individual seats.

Astro III had an aircraft-type interior finished in black. Power-assisted pistol grip lever controls steered the twin front wheels. The rear vision was provided by closed-circuit television from a viewing screen mounted on a console between the seats.

The powerplant for Astro III was the Model 250-C18 gas turbine engine produced by the Allison Division of General Motors. This engine was selected because of its lightweight and high power output. It weighed only 139 pounds and had 317 net horsepower.

Though many tricycle-type automobiles have been produced over the past years, none of them have bentirelytely acceptable regarding their handling. The key to the excellent staexcellentty of a tricycle-type vehicle is the center of gravity placement. As the distance between the front tires or tread is reduced, the same resistance to rollover can be maintained by lowering the center of gravity through design and component location. These two technological conditions of aerodynamic efficiency and dynamic stability were necessary to resolve before proceeding with the Astro III design.

In total, there were three Chevy Astro Concepts: