The Astroghini Can Be Yours! For The Low, Low Price Of…

Jack Baruth
by Jack Baruth

We don’t call you guys the Best & Brightest for nothing.

When I talked about finding the Astroghini in Kalamazoo a few years ago, it never occurred to me that anyone would remember the van, or the story, for very long. But as it turns out, elephants have nothing on our readers… except, possibly, nose size.

I can’t decide if $3400 is a screaming deal or the equivalent of paying $5000 for an early 928 that ran when parked. The Astro part beneath the ‘ghini part should be reasonably reliable, but the rest of it is likely to be a nightmare. Reality shows rarely bust their asses to make sure their one-episode star-cars are built to the late Henry Royce’s standards. I suppose the best thing you could say about it would be that Astroghini ownership would be a relatively cheap way to get attention, but the same can be said for streaking at a baseball game.

One thing remains to be said: Aaron Cowles, the guitar builder briefly profiled in the original story, is no longer well enough to work. In addition to the Heritage Spruce Eagle discussed in the article, I also had Mr. Cowles rebuild a carved-maple Heritage H-575 and replace the original mahogany neck with a three-piece flame-maple affair.

Oh boy, look at those solar lights. I put those in for a party. I guess I wasn’t sober before the party, either. Anyway… we’re all praying for Aaron’s recovery, but no matter what happens, the peerless quality of his work will be apparent long after he, and I, are long gone. That’s the difference between a guitar rebuilt for a lifetime of use by a master of his craft and an Astro van rebodied in a hurry for a television show by a bunch of people who couldn’t care less. The difference between craft and junk.

Jack Baruth
Jack Baruth

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  • MaintenanceCosts It's going to have to go downmarket a bit not to step on the Land Cruiser's toes.
  • Lorenzo Since EVs don't come in for oil changes, their owners don't have their tires rotated regularly, something the dealers would have done. That's the biggest reason they need to buy a new set of tires sooner, not that EVs wear out tires appreciably faster.
  • THX1136 Always liked the Mustang though I've never owned one. I remember my 13 yo self grabbing some Ford literature that Oct which included the brochure for the Mustang. Using my youthful imagination I traced the 'centerfold' photo of the car AND extending the roof line back to turn it into a small wagon version. At the time I thought it would be a cool variant to offer. What was I thinking?!
  • GregLocock That's a bodge, not a solution. Your diff now has bits of broken off metal floating around in it.
  • The Oracle Well, we’re 3-4 years in with the Telluride and right around the time the long term durability issues start to really take hold. This is sad.
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