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Illustrated Corvette Series No. 31 - 1968 Corvette
"From Show Car To Road Machine"

By September 1967, Corvette fans had been teased for 2-1/2 years with the promise of a new Vette. Chevrolet and Bill Mitchell had been showing off the Mako Shark II and everyone was expecting some sort of "shark" Corvette. When the wraps came off, it wasn't quite the Mako Shark, but it was definitely a Corvette, and Chevrolet was taking orders.

Corvettes were always unique, but this was "space-age" in 1967. There was nothing like it on either side of the Atlantic. Some kind of "Italian" was a close as one could get because of all the curves. It looked like a 200-mph sex-goddess in your driveway. But all that grace and style was very hard to nail down, with battles between engineering, styling and marketing. Some wanted the new Corvette to be based on the Corvair while others were concerned that the Z-28 Camaro would eat into the Corvette's sales volume. Mitchell wanted the Mako Shark to be the next Vette while Duntov was pushing for a mid-engine Corvette. The new Corvette was supposed to be a 1967 model, but the pieces just couldn't come together in time.

Even though the new Corvette picked up almost all of its running gear from the 1967 Corvette, much had to be modified and much was new. New external features included vacuum- operated pop-up headlights and a vacuum-operated closet to conceal the windshield wipers. The coupe version had lift-out roof panels for a semi-roadster look and the near vertical rear window was removable for free-flowing air. The 427-optioned Corvettes had a hood bulge with "427" badges on both sides.

The interior was totally new, with its dash raking back and the two main gauges over the steering wheel. Other gauges were located on the console. Aero bucket seats had built-in head rests. The new three- speed Turbo-Hydramatic was optional along with dozens of other goodies.

Fans bought 28,566 new Corvettes in 1968 even though quality wasn't what it should have been for a $5,500 car. But it was new and it ran like nobody's business!

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lllustrated Corvette Series No. 35 -1968 Astro I Mid-Engine Experimental Corvette

Almost from the beginning, there have been those at Chevrolet who wanted the Corvette to be "something else." Along the way there have been proposals to soften the Corvette, add a back seat, and to use steel for the body. The Astro I proposed using an opposed, flat-six, Corvair engine. Fortunately, this was one for the history books.

The official purpose of the Astro I was to study aerodynamics and new features. Engineers had long known that frontal area and shape were major factors in how slippery a car is in high-speed air. Much of what we take for granted in aerodynamics was new territory in the mid '60s. For this study, function followed form.

To keep the front profile as low as possible, a modified, flat, opposed-six Corvair engine was placed behind the rear wheels. Although a far cry from the rip-snort'n 427s of the day, the little 176 cubic-inch enginewas made of alloy aluminum with steel cylinder sleeves and featured single overhead cams, hemi heads, Weber carburetors, and made 240 horsepower. That's 1.4 hp per cubic inch!

The unibody construction had large boxed side sill members that added stiffness as well as housing a fuel cell on the passenger side. The bulkhead behind the driver and the forged aluminum windshield header provided rollover protection.

The front and rear suspension used double wishbones and four-wheel disc brakes. Wheels and tires hadn't gotten fat yet, so 5.5 inch and 7.0 inch wheels were used front and back.

Note the absence of any normal door lines. The entire canopy hinged up from a pivot point behind the rear wheels. Since the car was 35.5 inches tall, 12.3 inches shorter than a '68 Corvette, the seats were fixed to the canopy and actually raised up so that you could step into the interior. This was not a rainy day car.

The Astro I had many styling tricks that were standard for GM study cars; a closet at the base of the windshield for wipers, pop-up spoiler brake lights, access panels on the hood for servicing fluids, and periscope rear view mirrors. The interior had the gauges, warning lights, and twin-grip steering control device. Trick stuff in 1967.

At only 35.5 inches tall, the Astro I was as low as a Countach, 15 years earlier. Too bad it wasn't packing a 427. Oh well.

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lIlustrated Corvette Series No. 36 - 1968 Astro II Mid-Engine Experimental Corvette

Almost from the beginning, racing has made the Corvette a living legend. Sports car development in the 1960s was explosive, and at the cutting edge was the Ford GT40 and the Chevrolet-backed Chaparral, both using a mid-engine layout. The Astro II (XP-880) was the first of several experimental, mid-engine Corvettes that kicked off years of exotic sports car anticipation.

Ford started the race by first offering a street version of their GT40, called "Mark III" and then by unveiling the "Mach 2" experimental mid-engine car in May 1967. Designers at Chevrolet went right to work on their own version of a mid-engine Corvette. After 11 months, the Astro II was shown, immediately initiating a blizzard of speculation asking the question, "Is this the next Vette?"

By using off-the-shelf parts, the designers were able to deliver the car quickly, and at a relatively low cost. However, because of a lack of serious commitment by Chevrolet, the car was made using an out of production, '63 Pontiac Tempest, two-speed transaxle. Ford, on the other hand, had a race-proven, four-speed manual gear box for the Mach 2. The big question was, if pushed into production, would a two-speed automatic Corvette be taken seriously. Probably not.

Despite its built-in design weakness, the Astro II was a very interesting effort. It certainly looked exotic and screamed "Corvette" with its body styling. The Astro II used a central backbone frame and thick doors that housed safety beams. The 20-gallon fuel cell was located in the center of the frame. The engine, suspension and drivetrain were all attached to the central frame. With a 427 engine, this made the car more like a Can-Am racer than a street car. Even with production Camaro and Corvette suspension parts, and performance street tires, the Astro II generated 1.0 g of cornering grip. This was part of the magic of a mid-engine sports car. Astro II weighed in at 3,300 pounds, 300 less than a production Corvette, yet had almost the same external dimensions.

While the Astro II was being track tested in Spring 1968, Duntov and his crew were busy working on their solution to the transaxle problem, the stunning XP-882. This one almost made it to the showroom. K. Scott Teeters

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lllustrated Corvette Series No. 37 - 1968 Astro-Vette Show Car

By the late '60s, automotive stylists and engineers were seriously looking at aerodynamics. Race cars were using all sorts of exotic wings and spoilers. Even hot street cars were using chin spoilers and rear deck spoilers or wings. C2 Corvettes always had a front end lift problem at high speeds. The new '68 Corvette had a small chin spoiler and a slight up-lip at the back end, but the car still had lift problems.

The Astro-Vette was an aerodynamic study to see how slippery the Corvette could be made. Although some criticized the car as being pure schmaltz, two notable styling features were picked up in 1973 and 1974. Pontiac was already offering "Endura" front bumpers on the GTO, so it looks like designers may have been thinking in that direction.

What they probably were not thinking about in 1968 was 5- mph front and rear bumpers. In 1973, when most cars got huge, chrome, front bumpers, Corvettes got the Astro-Vette treatment. Then in 1974, the tail end was restyled, a la Astro-Vette. Designers went with the sex-appeal of a roadster. If they had really been serious, a coupe version with a low, tear-drop, C2 Sting Ray roof line would have been sweet.

The obvious features on the Astro-Vette were the extended nose, roadster windshield, closed rear wheel openings and extended tail. The nose was extended considerably and the grille opening was kept to a minimum. The long hood has no budge, indicating that the car was a small-block. Scribe-lines on the front fenders were to be pressure actuated flaps that opened if under-the-hood pressure was too high. Designers took advantage of the B-pillar by crafting an airfoil to minimize air drag. Taking cues from the hot cars of the '30s, the Astro-Vette had smooth wheel disks on very narrow tires, and rear fender skirts that were hinged at the top for tire access. Like the front, the back end was extended and tapered. Designers even added partial front and rear belly pans to smooth underside airflow. The interior was medium blue and stock, except for the racing steering wheel.

Most folks didn't know what to make of the Astro-Vette. Chevy insiders called it, "Moby Dick," in essence calling it a big, white, whale. The Astro-Vette faded away, eventually making its mark on Corvette styling. But a serious Bonneville attempt would have really had our attention. - K. Scott Teeters