Does anyone know what happened to....

[Fast67VelleN2O]

The three 69 Corvettes that they gave the astronauts in 69? I remember them having PO2 wheelcovers and interesting paint. Are these cars still around?

[x Baldwin Motion]

http://www.vetteweb.com/features/vet...ette_stingray/

at least one of them may be around

[BBIGG BLOCK 396]

Now that was pretty interesting,I never knew about these cars.I would like to own one of those.I was always interested in the SPACE RACE as to say but never heard of these Vettes.VERY COOL! Thanks for bringing that topic up.I need a vette to I have never owened a complete one! I once aquired a frame and firewall back coupe I wanted to build but had to trade it for some stuff back when I was racing to stay in the game around here.The guy I traded it to spent about 6 months on that little 63 vette and it came out very nice.I always tried to trade him out of it but he would not let it go.

[nuch_ss396]

You know, there certainly was a real sense of USA pride
back then! We need to get back to that. I believe
Chevrolet also gave a Vette to Mary Lou Retton ( Olympic
Gymnist Gold Medal Winner ) when she won the gold.

Anyone know if any other famous people got cars? HEY! How
come only Corvettes?! What about Camaros?

Steve

[SS4Real]

I believe Mark McGwire received a red 1962 Corvette for his 62nd homerun from the St Louis Cardinals in 1998. While it wasn't a new Corvette, it sure looked good on TV.

[mssl72]

Yep, there is at least one. I saw it at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. I took a few pictures. The lighting isn't that great though. They are a little dark. There's an NCRS sign in front of it, so they may know where the others are.

[TimG]

Oddly enough, I had dinner at Texas Motor Speedway Hall of Fame dinner last week and sat next to Danny Reed, the owner of this car. He and I have been friends for about 15 years. He is an interesting guy that owns an advertising firm here in Austin. Corvette Enthusiast Magazine has a great article this month on a red '62 Corvette that was owned by a NASA engineer and restored by Danny. It was at San Antonio last August and received it's PV award.

Danny has the ID numbers of the two other cars leased to the astronauts for one year for one dollar. They have never been found by Danny. Danny Reed bought the car at a sealed bid auction in 1970 after Alan Beans year lease was up. The tank sticker says "Alan Bean" and the three cars were not built in consecutive order. Alan Beans car has LMP on the side as he was the "Lunar Module Pilot" for the second trip to the moon. Danny bid "I believe" something like $3,555 for the car in 1970. The top bid was higher, but the guy flaked out (it even happened before ebay) and Danny was called on to perform, he won the car over the next bid by five dollars and has owned the car since. He is in very close contact with Alan Bean and visits with him regularly and provides the car to NASA for display for periods of months at a time. The car has been repainted and detailed and its mileage is in the 25,000 range. Prior to his acquiring the car from the auction, it was left under a tree that damaged the paint a bit. It is a 390 horse, air 4 speed that has a body that was set up for an automatic originally. The hole for an automatic was repaired at the factory and it is a factory 4 speed car. There is a very detailed miniature replica of this car that is sold. Danny said it is accurate except for the color of the rocker moldings. On a visit to Alan Bean, he presented the model to him, Alan has it displayed in his memento case, right next to the gloves he wore while on the moon. Quite an honor. He told me this story last Wednesday evening at the dinner honoring Roger Penske, Eddie Hill, Jeff Burton, and Tony Stewart. That was a fun evening on its own.

Danny had the opportunity to trade this car plus cash for Grand Sport #1 (the Penske roadster) that was housed in Austin for many years. He knew the owner of GS #1 and he wanted the '69 Corvette as it was a running, driving street car and the GS was a worn out old race car. Danny refused the offer more than once, a choice he kind of regrets. He feels that GS #1 would be gone by now, and he still owns Alan Beans car with the black wings painted on it. While considering the offer, he compiled a detailed record of the GS to try to figure out what it's history was. He knew it was a special one off factory race car, but its history was cloudy. He took lots of pictures of the car in the mid 70's before Richard Seiver sold it to Jerome Shinkay for $30,000.

[TimG]

P.S. Were's the '69 SS 396 Camaro that OJ Simpson won in 1969. Roy Orbeson had a white '69 435 Corvette that is owned by an NCRS member. The Gus Grisson Corvette has been around the block a few times and is now red with a trim tag change. It was blue originally.

[nuch_ss396]

Oh, of course! The infamous OJ '69 white SS Camaro. I forgot
about that one.

Steve

[mockingbird812]

[ QUOTE ]
I believe Mark McGwire received a red 1962 Corvette for his 62nd homerun from the St Louis Cardinals in 1998. While it wasn't a new Corvette, it sure looked good on TV.

[/ QUOTE ]

The 'vette that McGwire received should have been about a 1943 or perhaps 46 at best , oh wait, I don't think they made Corvettes in those years, did they?

P.S. you da man, Roger !