Following the launch of the cabover product line in 1969, the GMC Astro quickly exceeded the Chevrolet Titan in sales and market share. Here are some comments sent in from truckers. On the sweeping floors it may be profitable. Its a working truck, too! I could have sworn I took several of the truck Ill be attempting to feature below, but for some reason I am unable to find them. The cabover truck design is outdated for the North American highway infrastructure. The nose of the semi is flat and the truck cab sits on top of the diesel engine and steering axle. As such, several other trucks will be standing in for it at various points. Planning to exit the medium-duty truck market, General Motors canceled the production in 2009. Its a FACTORY double bunk. Dan is hoping to use this truck in the summer to haul hay. Placement of the truck cab over the motor saved some length. As far as I know this is a Bedford KM, the heavy-duty TK. When I was a kid, my parents would drive me to the nearest truck stop, so I could take pictures of the big rigs, and talk to the truck drivers. This truck had plenty of power and I was able to easily beat a friend on mine driving the International cabover out of a toll plaza. In the shuffle, Ercoa managed to grab the pontoon business and run with it. And you see a lot of Brigadiers out here too. Truck manufacturers in these countries still make this body style as their lengths laws are still quite rigid, and the cabover style allows for trailer length to be maxed out. Copyright 2011 - 2023 Curbside Classics. But every end is merely a new beginning. IHC dealers usually at least understood that an out-of-service truck meant someone wasnt making their wages. Beat me to itthe White was clearly an Astro rip-off, although there isnt exactly a lot of leeway with big COE trucks in making them look distinctive, at least in the idiom of that time. Starting in 1980, the company offered the GMC TopKick. Im retired now but own a few Detroit powered 73 GMC 9500 10 wheelers to fool around with. Distinguished by its boxy appearance, it earned the nickname "Crackerbox. The others weve seen feature yellow and blue interiors. It featured an all-aluminum cab with a 108-inch or 116-inch hood. Id been itching to make a deal ever since I became aware of their presence in the back of the warehouse some years ago, but my offers to buy had always fallen on deaf ears. It is neither inferred nor implied that any item sold by TRUCKiD.com is a product authorized by or in any way connected with any vehicle manufacturers displayed on this page. Maintenance and Repair A cabover is repaired by tilting the entire cab forward. Depending on when it was made its Road Expeditor II, an Autocar or a Western Star. I vaguely recall it being at/near a T intersection. When backing in to loading docks and winding through heavy traffic, nothing can compare with a cabover truck! It used a single hyd cylinder on the right hand side of the frame. To this day I still drive a cabover, 48 years and never owned a hood. As of current production, GM has not marketed another Class 8 cabover truck (as the configuration has effectively ended production in North America). . You had to jack the front of the cab up to get the valve cover off. The yard owner and I were talking at the time, and I congratulated him on his win. The International was brand new when I got it 1978, had a 290 Cummins and 10 speed Roadranger transmission. It was supposedly a big advance in truck design for its time. He told me he took out over $2500 in bronze copper and aluminum shavings. Not a bad days work. In contrast to the Crackerbox, the cab of the Astro was lengthened nearly six inches into a 54-inch BBC length with two sleeper cab configurations available. A few words about their personal connection and memories of cabovers. Dealer service was the biggest issue with the GMC, not unlike any GM product of the day. The white cabooses weve seen are made of metal. For more information on the last new I spotted this rig several weeks ago while taking a shortcut I rarely use, coming back from picking up a load of equipment bound for the office. Even the old freight shaker cabovers! Its the only one of the three weve seen that has a black, red, and blue interior. Cabover interiors use a different system from other car interiors in the same way that a car interior uses a different system. Those old White Freightliners would just rattle all the time. Single rear axle. For over a century, GMC has been offering a wide range of commercial and military grade vehicles, as well as genuine auto parts. Did find the high-res original of that pic, but alas, no GPS information or other pictures for context. Van Alstyne was one of the female designers mentioned in the book, Damsels in Design, by Constance Smith which came out a couple of years ago and which was mentioned on this site and on others. We can order those things? These Astro cabs had (exterior) styling far ahead of their time, especially the ones with the smaller grille. The reason? The next year I was put in a brand new leased 1979 GMC General. Still, it was a new truck and I was pretty happy with it. The best trucks ever. Three of the sixteen-footers were completed and used for testing and promotions; this catalog picture depicts the very same boat seen above, only twenty-two years earlier. I wouldnt be so quick to write the Road Commander off as an Astro copy, Larry Shinoda of Mustang and Corvette fame was the man behind the design. The one weak area for the Astro was the cab tilt mechanics. If these were being built in the late 70s, they werent that much before my time yet I cant remember ever seeing one. The only parts in stock were routine maintainence and some high wear items. These rigs are true classics for sure. One of the other farms runs a fleet thats all GMC on the older stuff. Werent the other two trucks Internationals? But now a sighting of a working cabover truck on the road is more rare. I was assigned a 81 model with a 63 as a backup spare truck But, unfortunately, its also the one big truck for which Im most starved for pictures. 1900. This retro truck style is rising to the surface once again for particular working applications. The Astro could be ordered with standard Detroit Diesel 6 or 8 wide panoramic glass provided excellent vision to the front and the My son and I still drive this truck and trailer every week from San Diego California, to LA. (Powerliner). I dont recall the politics of GMs medium and heavy duty truck sales but if you sold MD and HD you could order either Chevy or GMC or a mix of both. Cab Manufacturer: gmc Model: astro $2,000.00 1986 GMC ASTRO Cab Create Estimate Tag #: 25276546 VIN #: 1GDT9L4C5GV505534 *Brakes: AIR Engine: CUMMINS BCIII Type: SHELL Style: CABOVER SHELL CAB, COMPONENTS SOLD SEPARATE, ALLISON HT754CR Part Info (877)238-5030 Request Info Enterprise Vander Haags Inc Cb Council Bluffs IA $786.00 1983 GMC ASTRO Cab Independent front suspension, air-suspension all-round, an ultra-light forward-set alloy cab only 48 long, power steering, a complex fabricated frame that was 50% lighter, and the lightest diesel engine: This was the recipe for the most technologically advanced semi truck tractor in the world in 1959. Old Dutch was a really good customer. Cabover interiors are all essentially the same but they all have a few differences. Every downturn claims some, Boats and RVs are big discrentionary extras subject to consumer confidence. Or perhaps some do-gooder finally threw it away. If anyone knows about these powerplants in They were spun-off from Volvo during the Mack acquisition as the combined company would have had to big a share of the Low Cab Forward Truck market. It had the red and white paint scheme but but was otherwise pretty plain, with cast spoke wheels and painted fuel tanks. The cabover has a smaller seat in the middle, two doors on either side, a small handle in the middle, and a small door on each side. [1] Although Detroit Diesel had developed a gas-turbine version of the GMC Astro in the early 1970s, fuel-economy concerns would keep it out of production. I was a little concerned about the pieces that were twisted on the right front, yea they looked fine but I couldnt see taking a chance on this happening again. Interior. It seemed certain that these once-proud rigs would be fed to the crusher soon. Wild dashboard, what a shame that there isnt really any use for these old beasts once they get on in years . Cabover trucks, COE (cab over engine), are essentially a style of big rig truck without a hood. Of course, being a cabover it tilted forward for access to that huge Detroit Diesel mill. We had to do allot of work to use it in the state of California. I was thinking WTF? EnterpriseVander Haags Inc Sp Spencer IA. Title applied for. Because of the regulations for length, this style of rig was very popular in it's day. The other cabovers weve seen have white cabooses. The cabover truck is an icon. Also seem to recall some connection with carnival equipment. So they dumped their interests in such things as snowmobiles and recreational craft, going hard after that one market they felt was most lucrative. The first 1,000,000 miles of my driving was in trucks like these. The extensive use or hauling heavy cargo takes its toll on the state of your vehicle, which means that sooner or later you will need some GMC semi truck accessories and parts. GMC. They have a special look. This 1974 model was one of the last trucks to travel down the assembly line before the company went bankrupt in late 1974. The Astro offered many improvements over the "Crackerbox" trucks. Her fleet of 95s did cross country turnarounds with two drivers, Indiana to California and back in 5 days over the Rockies, the drivers loved them. [2] For the 1969 model year, the GMC Crackerbox was replaced by the GMC Astro, while the Chevrolet Titan was unveiled for the 1970 model year.[3][4]. Ive had the pleasure to drive an LTL-9000, and the misfortune to drive a Brigadier. Welcome to TruckTube!!! Every once in awhile Ill see one sitting on a back lot. They were legal and they got the job done. A cabover rig isnt as safe as a long hood rig, in the event of an accident, as there just isnt any protection for the driver. So, in 1987, GMC sold the heavy duty operation to Volvo, and Now for those of you who have seen dbl bunk Astro's yes there were some after market dbl bunk conversions. The cabooses are all designed with different colors, textures, and materials. The largest cabover trucks ever produced by GM, the Astro was introduced for 1969, replacing the 1960-1968 GMC "Crackerbox" COEs. Our mechanic seems to look at the Brigadiers the way you do. A popular model of truck, with COE fans, and with a following and some clubs across North America. They look like something out of the 90s rather than the 60s. Its grainy and basically useless, but unless I find the others, that may well be all that remains of these rigs. To get in the sleeper bunk the driver of the rig must crawl through a hole. Related > The Clifford Truck Show Best Cabover Collection EVER. Condition. Is this the same model International Transtar? He later ran an early 90s GMC Brig as his assigned tractor for Yellow Freight before retirement. Because of the regulations for length, this style of rig was very popular in its day. My extended family has owned and used that exact model of paddleboat on various lakes in Minnesota for close to four decades.