The Chevrolet Astro was a rear-wheel drive mid-sized van introduced by Chevrolet

Chevrolet

Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...

 in 1985 to rival domestic (American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

) competitors the Dodge Caravan

Dodge Caravan

The Dodge Caravan is a family minivan manufactured by Chrysler Group LLC and sold under its Dodge brand. Along with its nameplate variant, the Plymouth Voyager, the Caravan was introduced for the 1984 model year. In 1987, the Dodge Grand Caravan long-wheelbase model was introduced and sold...

/Plymouth Voyager

Plymouth Voyager

In 1984, the Voyager name was applied to Plymouth's variant of Chrysler's all new minivan. This Voyager used the Chrysler S platform, which was derived from the K-platform . In addition to using a derived platform, the Voyager shared many components with the K-cars, most notably the interior...

 twins and the Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese Toyota Van

Toyota Van

The Toyota MasterAce is a vehicle that was produced by Toyota and distributed worldwide under several names, with "MasterAce" being the name used in Japan. North American markets received the MasterAce as the Toyota Van...

. Also sharing the Astro's platform was its sibling, the GMC Safari. In addition to standard passenger uses, the vans were also available as cargo vans, and converters used them as the basis for small conversion van

Conversion van

A Conversion van Is a full-size cargo van that is sent to third-party companies to be outfitted with various luxuries for road trips and camping.-History:...

s.

Both Pontiac

Pontiac

Pontiac was an automobile brand that was established in 1926 as a companion make for General Motors' Oakland. Quickly overtaking its parent in popularity, it supplanted the Oakland brand entirely by 1933 and, for most of its life, became a companion make for Chevrolet. Pontiac was sold in the...

 and GMC have used the Safari nameplate (GMC was part of the Pontiac/GMC Division); Pontiac used the nameplate on several of its station wagon

Station wagon

A station wagon is a body style variant of a sedan/saloon with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door , instead of a trunk lid...

 models from 1955 through 1989.