Ryan submitted a new blog post: Alan Shepard: Astronaut, Hot Rodder... Continue reading the Original Blog Post
Off topic... BUT, I've always felt the best automotive photoshoot EVER done was a series of photos taken with the NASA delivered 1969 Corvettes (given to Apollo 12 members) with various equipment made by NASA like moon rovers, etc... If you are interested, just search google for "Astrovette". Motortrend recreated these shots a few years ago... They are great too...
The Corvette was my childhood dream car specifically the '62. I've since got over it and I can't afford one anyway!
That article took me right back to the Fall of 1962. I was just starting college at Iowa State, had joined a fraternity and one of my "brothers" had picked his parents well. He was driving a white 62 360 horse fuelly Vette that had been dechromed and running black wheels with black walls. No idea what happened to that guy, I determined fairly quickly that I'd never be a frat rat and moved. I still remember that Vette
Yep. One of the original Astrovettes is owned by a guy in midland, TX. I personally saw it run a high 11... and the owner claimed it was “stock.”
I turned 6 years old during the Apollo 11 mission that landed on the moon. Man,,,to this day I get excited thinking about those guys and all they risked and witnessed,,,during the moon missions ! Shepard was great,,,and the others,,,Gus,,,,,he would have went to the moon if not for the accident . But,,Shepard made it on Apollo 14,,,really cool guy,,,tough as nails too ! My 426 Hemi block was cast 8 days after we landed there,,,,,,at Tranquility. Every time I look at the casting date,,,,I think about the guys that were setting the molds at Chrysler,,,,,and thinking how proud they were that we had done it . For a time there,,,the world looked at us differently,,,,we could do anything ! We still can when we really have to ! Thank you Ryan,,,,,I always get up when thinking about America,,,and the great people that make it all happen ! Tommy
As an aviator among other things he must of had speed in his blood. OT but If you haven't seen CNN's Apollo 11 documentary that came out for the 50th anniversary last summer, you should. Footage and audio just as things happened start to finish, no narration. Sent from my SM-G950U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
One of the episodes of the Grand Tour, James May talks about the Corvettes given the returning astronauts and actually drives Neil Armstrong's actual 67 vette on the shuttle runway at cape Canaveral. OT but worthy of a view. Delete it if you think it is too far abroad Ryan but I thought the spirit was purely on topic with your post. It is the thing fantasies are made of. https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...68C287E5402944145EDD68C287E54029441&FORM=VIRE
A lot of the original 7 astronauts had ties to the industry. They were guests of industry leaders at the SEMA shows.
I believe 1960 Indy 500 winner Jim Rathmann was influential in convincing Chevrolet to give the astronauts new Corvettes, he owned Rathmann Chevrolet down there, and he convinced Chevrolet that it would be great advertising. I also think a couple of the astronauts had something to do with the Ken-Paul roadster that Rathmann won the race with.
I was watching the moon landing on German TV. We were out in the field playing war games with French, German and British troops. We got the day off to watch the event on the tube. I heard about the astrovettes and when I came back to "the world" I got my very own corvette. A red 64, 327, 4 speed with 4.10 posi. Had it painted black. Loved that car. I carried this photo around in my pocket for years. Cut the tattered corners off.
I was watching Iron resurrection this week .Part of the episode they go to a mans house in Texas he has 3 of the astronauts corvettes .
Your the Boss and you have posted a few off topic things in the past, do you have a photo of the men receiving the cars? HRP
I always wondered how true the whole Original Seven / fast cars thing was... Apollo 15s Jim Irwin came to my high school around '80, showed 16mm films of he and Dave Scott becoming the first astronauts to drive on the moon with the new lunar rover. The Apollo 16 crew later did a rather spectacular full-throttle "grand prix" run for the 16mm camera so engineers could study the moon buggy's performance characteristics. It's cool footage.
Other astronaut shows worth watching are the series “astronauts wives” and the Tom Hanks documentary “from the earth to the moon”.
Yep...most got the Vette's....whose was found in Arizona just sitting out side....? Sold a few years back....Gus ?
I too had a '69 riverside gold vette t-top. Tho' no astronaut, I do recall a re-entry issue one fateful eve. In all seriousness and more to topic, can there be anything more Americana than a national space hero atop his Stingray? Even my dreams fall short of such loftiness.
Still trying to locate pictures of a gold L-88 Vette that was owned by an astronaut.... I'm sure those are out there in the internet world....
I caught one episode of the astronaut wives show . I’m not sure if it was an accurate portrayal,,,,but they had Gordo Cooper racing a 440 6 pack Superbird ! Either way,,,the car in the show looked wicked ! Tommy
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