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I lived thru the 'astronaut car era' and they were 'kinda' special...I say kinda because other than the weird discontinuous paint scheme they were bone stock.
Incidentally, I had the turbine wheel covers on my 69 (originally)....I'm amazed that they lasted this long....10 times I had to retrieve my 69 turbine covers out of the weeds after diving into a corner!
Pilots= big watches, aviator glasses and a 69 vette!
gotta love it!
I went into the Navy in 1968 and remember parking both Cernan and Aldrin in their NASA T38s on the NAS Glenview transit line one evening in 1971. My first classic car since then is a 69 L36 coupe. I was not even aware that lunar astronauts had a connection with this car until after buying mine. Not surprised though.
Last edited by Faster Rat; 01-05-2018 at 08:18 AM.
I got to meet Alan Bean in 2006 when I was the marketing director of a software company in Houston. Hired him to speak at our annual user conference. Kind hearted guy with a quick wit and easy smile. He is a painter now and quite good. He told me at the time that a guy in Dallas had "his" vette and was taking appropriate care of it. He seemed to miss it.
Those cars were a nice gesture by GM; but they were also a marketing windfall. I'm sure the photos of the Apollo astronauts with those cars sold a BUNCH of them.
Below are excerpts from the '70 Corvette sales brochure--keeping with the NASA theme.
Mission Control Center '70
Cape Kennedy hasn't got anything on us. Corvette's cockpit is as heavy on instrumentation as it is on comfort.
You check out the central command console before your countdown. Tach, ammeter, water temp, oil pressure, fuel gauge, brake warning light, running light monitors--you name it, it's there.
Once under way, you can enjoy Astro Ventilation, which routes outside air in, through your choice of high or low vents.
No matter if your mission's only a trip to the drive-in, the interior of the 1970 Corvette is designed to put you in complete control.
Windshield wipers. Headlights. Door handles. Coupe roof panels. Everything tucks away but the landing gear.
01-04-2018, 05:02 PM
Chevrolet AstroVette Was a Car Truly out of This World
