Chevy & GMC Vans

so i was reading some of the back issues of Performance auto and sound (which i have a subscription to) and they mention "the lowly chevy astro from the mid-80's inspired the scion craze we have today" wth do they mean lowly........ anyways they go on to talk about how the astro became a cult hit.... in japan...? but not here (except in SPL competitions). They also state "the popular theory is that, the imfamous scion xB box is a scaled-down silhouette of the mundane Astro Van"
So if a little astro is in production and a big hit at that why did the really one get scarped did i miss something?

anyways i just though it was intresting that out vans got any mention in this magazine other then the SPL coverage.what do you think?

Common belief is that the main reason for killing the Astro was the redesign/tooling costs to incorporate new government mandated safety features on an aging platform.

Apparently nobody survived accidents before side curtain airbags.

ihatemybike wrote:Apparently nobody survived accidents before side curtain airbags.

lol i guess that means we have some ghosts here?
what do you think a updated Astro/Safari would look like and include... other then the obvious on-star, gps/dvd 2 din nav system, high def sound system rear entertainment system and head rest monitors

Cobra wrote:

ihatemybike wrote:Apparently nobody survived accidents before side curtain airbags.

lol i guess that means we have some ghosts here?
what do you think a updated Astro/Safari would look like and include... other then the obvious on-star, gps/dvd 2 din nav system, high def sound system rear entertainment system and head rest monitors

I thought some of the later models were equipped with onstar, actually I think my moms 00' may have even had it, could be wrong though. I would like to imagine they would have used the same rear end as they always had but with another new front end like those who have done the "colorastro" front end swap or similar to what they did with the express's even, just updated and toughened up a bit. while we're on the body an optional rear wiper and push button key mechenism delete would be sweet. maybe bring back the half panel!! other than that i really dig the bodies on our vans as is. seeing as how they are selling more 4.3 full size express vans these days i doubt the factory V8 option would have ever happened but this is all just a dream anyways so why not? and then to the interior they could have outfitted it with all of todays "almost" standard goods i.e. gps, onstar(?), back up cameras and sensors, power slider, side airbags whatever else thee spaceships have today. and viola your looking at a $40,000+ investment so might as well throw a Denali package option in there for another $5,000 or so.

GnarliSafari wrote:

Cobra wrote:

ihatemybike wrote:Apparently nobody survived accidents before side curtain airbags.

lol i guess that means we have some ghosts here?
what do you think a updated Astro/Safari would look like and include... other then the obvious on-star, gps/dvd 2 din nav system, high def sound system rear entertainment system and head rest monitors

I thought some of the later models were equipped with onstar, actually I think my moms 00' may have even had it, could be wrong though. I would like to imagine they would have used the same rear end as they always had but with another new front end like those who have done the "colorastro" front end swap or similar to what they did with the express's even, just updated and toughened up a bit. while we're on the body an optional rear wiper and push button key mechenism delete would be sweet. maybe bring back the half panel!! other than that i really dig the bodies on our vans as is. seeing as how they are selling more 4.3 full size express vans these days i doubt the factory V8 option would have ever happened but this is all just a dream anyways so why not? and then to the interior they could have outfitted it with all of todays "almost" standard goods i.e. gps, onstar(?), back up cameras and sensors, power slider, side airbags whatever else thee spaceships have today. and viola your looking at a $40,000+ investment so might as well throw a Denali package option in there for another $5,000 or so.

Gnarli idea where do i buy one .