Curbside Outtake: 1977 Pontiac Astre – The First US Astre Find At CC Thanks To Google Streetview

We have here a first on two accounts: the first US Pontiac Astre sighting ever at CC, and the first to be found inadvertently via Google Streetview. CC reader and contributor Poindexter explained it in an email to me:

OK, so I recently bought on eBay antique hardware for 7 doors on the 2nd floor of my house (really beautiful brass plates;  I installed them yesterday),  and I was curious as to what the place I bought them from looked like.  So I Google Street Viewed the return address on the package.  And just down the road was this beat-up old Astre (as you know, rarer than a Vega.)   So I immediately thought of you and CC, and decided to email you the image.

 

If you want to visit it via Streetview and check it out yourself, here’s the link.

We did do a post an an Astre a few years back, also a blue hatchback but found in Canada. In a nutshell, these were obviously badge-engineered Vegas that were powered by Pontiac’s new Iron Duke 2.5 L four. They were offered in the US for only three years, 1975, 1976 and 1977.  Sales were quite modest, with the first year being the best, at 64k. By 1977, that was down to 23k.