PennSilverTaco's domestic truck, SUV, and van photo collection thread!

I don't know if it's still around, but astrosafari.com had some cool mods and tips on there. Some times I miss my 95 astro. Like my 1st gen better.

 

I would also like to point out that an engine block heater is a $100 option

Let's take all-wheel drive off the table, and just add the G80 locking rear...

Okay, so right now we've got an extended-body RWD Astro with the base CS trim...

Options include front and rear A/C, rear heat, AM/FM cassette seating for 8, tinted glass, and a locking rear diff...

Let's just say for the sake of argument that the van's exterior color is white, and it has a blue vinyl interior...

You've got a basic people-hauler with the basic creature comforts, but what if you want to tow something? The trailering special package would have probably added about another $500.

There does not seem to have been a difference in towing capacity between vans with the 4.3L TBI (165hp) and vans with the 4.3L CPI (200hp). However, the AWD models came standard with the more powerful engine beginning in 1992, and AWD Astros have a lower maximum towing capacity than RWD Astros...

If you wanted one hell of a towing machine, your best bet was to get a RWD model with the CPI engine. The combination of the 4.3L CPI and towing package probably added over a grand to the final price...

So now, we are approaching $20K, and we haven't even upgraded the interior or added any power options yet!

 

If the van is only used for short trips, you are really cheap, and/or you don't want extra shit that can break, you probably would have placed the order for your new van by now...

However, if the van will be used for long trips, driven for any extended period of time, and/or you want some creature comforts, then you probably want cruise control and/or tilt steering...

GM looked at statistics, realized that cruise and tilt were typically ordered together, and beginning in about 1990 made it that you could only get them together in the Astro...

Ordering the driver convenience package, which included cruise and tilt, would set you back another $200-$300.

If you wanted power windows and power door locks (which could also not be ordered separately), you were looking at another $200-$300!

The top preferred equipment group included just about everything except rear A/C and rear heat, and added like three grand to the base price...

So if you ordered a "fully loaded" CS, you were looking at a bare minimum of $20K...

There's a website called Web2Carz that used to list complete options lists and prices for a variety of domestic and import vehicles, and that is where I got my rough estimate of what a 1993 Astro cost. I also have a 1993 sales brochure...

One time, I priced out a fully loaded 1993 extended-body Astro with top LT trim and all-wheel drive, and literally selected every option. The total price was about $24K! That ain't cheap for a Chevy van 25 years ago!

 

You bet it still exists!

And not only that...

I'm a member of that forum!

 

As I said before, Preferred Equipment Groups and Trim Levels were ordered separately. This meant that it was possible to order a base model CS with the top Preferred Equipment Package, thus getting pretty much every available option. At the same time, It was possible to order the $2,000+ top-of-the-line LT trim, but not select one of the Preferred Equipment Groups. This by default gave you an Astro LT with no A/C, no power options, no tilt wheel, no cruise control, and an AM radio!

Quite why you would spend all that money for the LT but not even get A/C is beyond me (and most people seem to have agreed with me, because like I said before, I've never personally seen an Astro passenger van without A/C). Strangely enough, the section on the LT in my 1993 Chevy Vans brochure shows an LT dashboard with no A/C. This shot clearly shows the exclusive-to-the-LT aircraft-style captain's chairs, upholstered in the exclusive-to-the-LT cloth. The van represented by the dashboard photo is also equipped with cruise control, tilt wheel, electronic instrumentation (better known as a digital dash), rear heat, fog lights, and even the $450+ CD player (yes, this was an option as early as 1992). My theory as to why they used a non-A/C dash to represent the dash is this...

The dashboard in the photo is real, but not part of an actual van. GM probably made an interior mockup just for the brochure photos (If you look in the 1987 full-size pickup and 1987 Suburban brochures, copies of which I also own, you will see that GM used the same interior shot to represent the Custom Deluxe trim on both the truck and the Suburban; the same is true for the Suburban and R/V full-size pickups in the 1991 sales brochures). It probably does not take much to swap out a few switches and trim panels to transform an Astro interior mockup from a basic cargo van to a loaded LT. It was probably just an oversight on the part of GM's marketing people, and I'm probably one of the few people who actually noticed!

 

This van belonged to a music teacher and was named "Van Halen"...


August 15th, 2012:

Doylestown, Pennsylvania

 

July 12th, 2015:

Quakertown, Pennsylvania

 

September 16th, 2017:

Summit Station, Pennsylvania

 

1995 Astro 2WD with top LT trim...


June 21st, 2014:

Macungie, Pennsylvania

 

@Justanotherhemi

 

Another 1995 Astro 2WD, of unknown trim level...


May 12th, 2015:

New Hope, Pennsylvania

 

Is this guy an Astro/Safari fan?

 

@Justanotherhemi I belive to be an avid van enthusiast. not sure if his love for vans is strictly for Astro/Safari's tho

 

Maybe I should start showing my pics of Chevy G-series and GMC Vanduras then!

 

Same van, two different places...


March 31st, 2015:

New Hope, Pennsylvania




September 23rd, 2017:

Englishtown, New Jersey

 

This is a 1997 Astro AWD conversion van...

Photographed with the permission of the owner, as if you couldn't already tell!


September 27th, 2014:

Warrington, Pennsylvania

 

One of the most beautiful newer Astros I've ever photographed in my opinion...


April 20th, 2013:

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (specifically the Manayunk neighborhood)

 

Same van (1988 Chevy Astro) at the Carlisle Truck Nationals Vanarama two years in a row (2016 and 2017, respectively)!


August 6th, 2016:




August 4th, 2017:

As you can see, one year later, the van is now sporting sick new airbrush graphics and new wheels...

 

August 1st, 2015:

Macungie, Pennsylvania

 

January 16th, 2016:

Allentown, Pennsylvania