A day or so ago, I mentioned buying a Corvette with my American Express card. While I’m on the subject of Corvettes, it turns out that a Corvette isn’t only the car of the Williamsons, it’s also the car of the astronauts — at least the car of the Mercury astronauts.
Alan Shepard not only was the first American in space (sub-orbital flight) but he was also the first of the astronauts to own a Corvette. He bought a used 1953 model Corvette from his father-in-law in 1954. In 1959, after he was chosen as a member of the original astronaut class, he bought another (used) Corvette… a 1957 model.
After he joined NASA, he became friends with a General Motors engineer, Zora Arkus-Duntov. After his flight that made him the first American in space, Arkus-Duntov convinced GM to give Shepard a brand new 1962 Corvette. (General Motors usually didn’t give away cars, but in this case, the company saw a once in a lifetime publicity opportunity.)
After Shepard received his Corvette, the owner of a Chevrolet/Cadillac dealership (Jim Rathmann) in Melbourne, Florida decided to take things further. Rathmann was a former Indianapolis 500 winner and savvy businessman. In coordination with GM, he offered all the Mercury astronauts a top of the line Corvette at a very affordable lease price — $1 a year. After the lease was up, the astronauts could buy the car outright if they chose — also at a very good price. If they didn’t purchase the car, the dealership had absolutely no trouble selling a Corvette formerly owned by an astronaut.
Only four of the seven Mercury astronauts took Rathmann up on his offer of a Corvette for a dollar a year. NASA cancelled the one dollar car program in 1971 over concerns of a backlash from the public.
I spent some amount of time in and around Melbourne, Florida and I’ve been to the Chevrolet/Cadillac dealership that provided the Corvettes to the astronauts — but, alas, I never owned a Corvette driven by an astronaut….. we do, however, have George Foreman’s grill.
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