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Topic starter
09/07/2021 2:37 pm
Not to be confused with the production Corvettes specially painted for the Apollo 12 crew and modeled by TSM, this is the 1968 AstroVette concept car built by GM in 1968. As an aerodynamic study, there were a lot of tweaks to see just how smooth the '68 design could be made. These included extended nose and tail, rear wheel skirts, lowered windshield, B-pillar airfoil, and smooth wheel discs on narrow tires. The front and rear body treatments would find their way into the 1973 and 1974 Corvettes (respectively), making the Corvette's approach to mandated bumpers the prettiest amongst all the cow-catcher approaches used back then. The original car had a blue interior but newer photos show it to be black - I wish Matrix had gone with the original. There is also an orange version, though I didn't find any online pics of the 1:1 in this color.
09/07/2021 3:13 pm
Nice model Harv. Back in 1969, Hasbro made a larger plastic version of this concept Corvette. Much cruder, but the only other model that I'm aware of.
1969 HASBRO AMAZE-A-MATICS 1968 CHEVROLET ASTROVETTE CORVETTE PROTOTYPE
10/09/2023 10:49 pm
Just discovered this old thread from 2021
there is also an old 1/25 kit that sells for pretty penny
11/09/2023 2:34 am
@chav This was a very popular scale model in the 60's. I built one. It also remembers me of a Stutz and Mercer and I believe maybe a concept Duesenberg but I don't remember who made these 1/25 model kits.
11/09/2023 8:26 am
For many years (long ago ) I dealt with 1/25 plastic models...this MPC ASTRO-Vette is one I don't recall. Pretty cool.
Charles Rockett and John Kuvakas reacted
Topic starter
11/09/2023 9:11 am
@nickies Was it JoHan? Matrix has made three of those in 1/43 resin (Bugatti, Duesenberg, and Mercer). The Bugatti had a Type 101 chassis. The Mercer had a Cobra chassis and drivetrain. All were designs by Virgil Exner.
11/09/2023 6:06 pm
Very attractive Astrovette ! A really good-looking and interesting automobile.
Charles Rockett and Chav reacted
11/09/2023 7:04 pm
Very attractive Astrovette ! A really good-looking and interesting automobile.
Yes indeed, I was researching the Apollo Corvette and the Astrovette pictures popped up
11/09/2023 7:54 pm
@mg-harv This is an interesting addition to a thread to which I admit to having nothing to offer, however my understanding is that Exner did have the last, 'virgin' Bugatti chassis, (the 101) from which he formed this, now iconic, car. Whereas the '70s Duesenberg and Mercer - like their '70s Stutz stablemates - seem to be badge-labelled gimmicks. If anybody could clarify this for me, I'd be grateful.
Harv Goranson and John Kuvakas reacted
11/09/2023 9:30 pm
@mg-harv There is a well documented chapter about these models and the real cars in the book "Virgil Exner, Visioneer" by Peter Grist published in 2007. There are many color renderings of all of them. The 1/25 scale models were produced by Renwal in 1965 and 1966.
The Mercer was commissioned by the Copper Development Association of New York as a show car for promoting copper and brass alloys.