[VIDEO] Astronaut Alan Shepard’s 1968 Corvette 427/435 Offered at Barrett-Jackson

A first-year C3 Corvette owned new by an astronaut with perhaps the oldest ties to Chevy’s legendary sports car is being offered at no reserve at the Barrett-Jackson Auction set for Jan. 22-30 in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Alan Shepard was one of the first 12 astronauts in the NASA program and went on to become the first American in outer space and eventually was one of the few who ever walked on the moon.

Shepard’s history with Corvettes goes all the way back to his first brush with the car, a used ’53, and he was driving a used ’57 while training in Florida for the Mercury space program.

Being an astronaut was a prestigious career back then, and GM eventually offered each astronaut a Chevy courtesy car. Shepard took advantage of GM’s offer of any car for $1 to get this 1968 Corvette convertible through Jim Rathman Chevrolet in Melbourne, Florida.

This 1968 Stingray was not the first Corvette that Shepard had received as an astronaut. In 1962, General Motors President Ed Cole presented all the Mercury 7 astronauts with new Corvettes. Shepard’s Corvette was Ermine White with black interior.

After riding in a real rocket ship, it’s no surprise that Shepard would option his ’68 Corvette with the L89 427/435 horsepower V8 engine mated to a four-speed manual transmission.

Shepard eventually blew up that original engine, and documentation shows that it was replaced under warranty with a similar motor that remains under the hood to this day. Other features include 3.55 rear end, power windows, adjustable steering column, P01 wheel covers, and F41 suspension.

In recent years, the car has been shown at the National Corvette Museum and at the NASA U.S. Space Walk of Fame Museum in Titusville, Florida.

Included with this celebrity Corvette is much documentation, including the original tank sticker, order sheet, magazine articles, museum display articles, a disposition letter featuring Shepard’s signature, his application for the Cape Kennedy Corvette Club, and a verification letter from Roy Sinor of the NCRS.

The car has not been restored, and the condition reflects that. The tobacco interior features torn seats, faded trim, and scratched instrument surrounds, while the exterior Polar White paint shows various nicks and scratches, as well.

We tend to agree with the previous owners’ decision to leave the car as it sits – a living piece of history, warts and all, though others might want to restore the car back to its factory-original condition.

What would you do?

Source:
barrett-jackson.com

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