1969 Corvette Stingray "AstroVette" Apollo-Themed

  

Summary

NASA + Corvette: GM connected the Corvette brand with NASA astronauts through cars, publicity, and an executive lease program.

Three Special Corvettes: Apollo 12 astronauts Alan Bean, Pete Conrad Jr., and Richard Gordon Jr. received matching 1969 Riverside Gold Stingrays.

The AstroVette Look: The cars received distinctive black "wings," a white dividing stripe, and special red, white, and blue astronaut emblems.

Big-Block Power: The AstroVettes packed 427-cu.-in. big blocks, four-speed manuals, and 490 horsepower.

Only One Known Survivor: Alan Bean's AstroVette is the only one of the three known to still exist.

A Piece of Space History: The car was preserved and restored to its original appearance and has been displayed at major Corvette and NASA-related venues.

This Corvette you're looking at was built specifically for Astronaut Alan L. Bean. There were only two others made just like this one for two other astronauts, Richard Gordon Jr. and Charles "Pete" Conrad Jr. All three men were launched into orbit on the Apollo 12 mission, the second lunar mission to land on the Moon.

NASA and General Motors
GM President Ed Cole saw the potential of linking the NASA program to the GM brand for product growth. GM had already given astronaut Alan Shepard, the very first man to break his way into space, a new white 1962 Corvette with a custom space-age interior. GM had also done business with astronaut legends like Neil Armstrong and high-performance enthusiast Gus Grissom.

In the '60s and early '70s, NASA astronauts were like rock stars in America. Reaching the Moon before Russia was something America accomplished that helped bring a divided country together after the controversial Vietnam War.

Of course, it's hard to imagine GM giving away Corvettes, but Cole's decision to do so, according to his widow, Dollie (Chairman of the National Corvette Museum and Vice Chairman of the National Air & Space Museum), made sense to Cole.

"The astronauts were incredibly visible," she says. "And good publicity is good publicity."

But putting astronauts in Corvettes wasn't just about publicity.

"Who more worthy than guys who represent our country?" says Dollie. "They were literally risking their lives. Space travel today isn't 'ho-hum,' but people perceive it that way. There were so many unknowns then. The cars were a way of saying 'Thank you.'"

Executive GM Lease Program For NASA 

Eventually, GM would see big benefits from being affiliated with NASA, so they went ahead and started an executive lease program for NASA employees. If you qualified for the lease program, you could lease a GM vehicle for $1 for one year.

According to astronaut Alan Bean, most qualifying employees chose Corvettes, making it an interesting sight when you drove past the Space Center and looked into the parking lot.

Those Who Fly Together, Drive Together

All three astronauts who boarded the Lunar Module for the Apollo 12 mission were very close, and all were car guys in their own right. They became good friends with Jim Rathmann, a Chevrolet and Cadillac dealership owner who was also known for winning the 1960 Indy 500.

Jim's dealership was located in Melbourne, FL, and its close proximity to the Space Center is what helped develop the friendship between the three astronauts and others at NASA, including Neil Armstrong.

With "Pete" Conrad Jr., Gordon Jr., and Bean successfully completing the Apollo 12 mission, they decided they should get matching Corvettes with some special visual upgrades to distinguish them from the rest of the Corvette owners and lessees.

Rare Riverside Gold Corvette Color

It just so happened that in 1969, Corvette was offering a one-time-only Riverside Gold exterior color for the Stingray. The three astronauts joined forces with their friend and dealership owner, Jim Rathmann, who helped get all three gold Corvettes to his dealership.

No one really knows where the black "wings" were painted over the Riverside Gold base paint, but it wasn't at the factory or Rathmann's dealership. As the story goes, the three astronauts took a lot of time deciding what design they wanted before settling on the black "wings."

Rathmann decided to get his friend involved, Alex Tremulis. Tremulis was an industrial designer who held automotive design positions at Cord Automobile, Duesenberg, General Motors, Tucker Car Corporation, and Ford Motor Company before later establishing a consulting firm.

Tremulis and Rathmann both had a hands-on part in the design. Rathmann placed the white stripe that separates the black and gold colors, while Tremulis designed and painted the special red, white, and blue logos on the fenders.

The Special Red, White, and Blue Emblems and The Meaning

The red, white, and blue emblems represent what you would think: America, the American flag, and NASA. Each emblem had a different set of initials drawn on a certain color of the emblem, representing the Corvette owner's rank during the Apollo 12 mission.

Bean's LMP initials were placed on the blue tag, signifying him as the Lunar Module Pilot. Pete's initials, CDR, were on the red tag of the emblem, standing for Commander. Dick's initials, CMP, for Command Module Pilot, were drawn on the white tag.

The colors the initials were painted on also represented the color each astronaut used to label his belongings during the Apollo 12 mission.

Corvette "AstroVette" Spec.

• 427 cu.-in. Big Block L36 

• 4-Speed Manual Transmission

• 490 Horsepower - 460 lb.-ft. of Torque

• Four-Barrel Rochester Carburetor

• Hydraulic Four-Wheel Disc Brakes

• Fully Independent Suspension

• Optional Side Exhaust Selected But Not Installed

• Performance: 0-60 mph 6.0 Seconds; Quarter-Mile 14.3 at 93 MPH

• One-Year-Only Riverside Gold

• Special Steel Wheel Covers

• Curb Weight: 3,450 lbs.

Where Are The Iconic "AstroVette" Stingrays Now?

Out of the three 1969 Stingray "AstroVette" Corvettes that were delivered to the Rathmann dealership for the crew of the Apollo 12 mission, only one is known to exist.

Alan Bean's Corvette is the last AstroVette known to exist. It was turned in after the $1, one-year lease was up. In 1971, it showed up in Austin, TX, on a GMAC car lot. It went up for auction, where a space enthusiast named Danny Reed put in a bid. He initially lost the auction, but the original winner couldn't come up with the money, and Danny eventually won the "AstroVette."

Making the "AstroVette" Perfect

The Stingray "AstroVette" was put on track to be restored to its original state to preserve its integrity, which meant no full restoration. Danny Reed worked with many Corvette experts throughout the process to get it back to its original look—the way it would have looked when it came right off the assembly line, with overspray in the correct spots and everything.

The National Corvette Restoration Society (NCRS) has given it many awards at some of the most prestigious Corvette car shows in the world.

It has been on display at NASA events, the National Corvette Museum, the Kansas Cosmosphere, Florida Space Center, Johnson Space Center, Houston Space Center, in Washington, and many other worthy places.

Alan Bean has since been reunited many times with his now-famous "AstroVette." Bean became a painter after his days of walking on the Moon. Much of his painting work has to do with space and his moonwalking, as he wrote:

"Our time on the Moon ended much too quickly and, in the years since then, I have created paintings to try to capture the feeling of our Apollo 12 mission, as well as all the other Apollo missions, too. It's my hope that these paintings will help other people share in the great adventure."

How to Tell If You Found One of The Lost "AstroVette" Stingrays?

Just like all rare cars, there are some imposters out there, but there is a way to tell if you found a real "AstroVette."

Only these three Corvettes in the lease program were special-ordered and registered in the lessee's name. This featured Corvette has a tank sticker that says, "Courtesy car delivered to Alan L. Bean." If found, the other two would have a similar tank sticker with the corresponding astronaut's name—Richard Gordon Jr. or Charles "Pete" Conrad Jr.

All other Corvettes for the NASA executive lease program were put in the military's name.

There is nothing like a little Corvette and NASA history! The $1, one-year executive lease program for the astronauts ended in 1971. Whether or not it was because the Space Program became less popular and the executive lease program was less worthwhile from an advertising standpoint, I'm not sure.

But there was a time for a while when being an astronaut was better than being a Hollywood star or a pro athlete.    

Harley J. Earl: Four Important Contributions Given To The Automotive Industry

Harley J. Earl

Harley J. Earl started his career at General Motors in the design department as Head of Design. After proving his skills to be invaluable, General Motors appointed him to become Vice President of the corporation.  

The move by GM made Mr. Earl the first-ever appointed top executive of a major corporation in American history. Every executive prior to Earl was grandfathered into their positions.

So what made him so desirable?

What made General Motors go so far out of character to appoint Mr. Earl and his abilities to a Vice President position?

Not only was Earl’s ability to design vehicles incredible, but he also had a knack that no one else did, he could tap into what the consumer wanted.  

Instead of designing vehicles that General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford deemed as profitable, he wanted to design and build vehicles that consumers wanted to see and drive. This idealism made General Motors nervous, but ultimately they trusted in Earl with good outcomes. GM saw the rise in public excitement, vehicle sales, and of course, profits.

Here are just four of Harley J. Earl’s important contributions to the automotive industry.    

 

1. Freeform Sketching and Hand Sculpted Clay Models: Harley J. Earl was a coachbuilder by trade. By honing and adjusting his craft, he became a pioneer of car design by introducing the use of freeform sketching and hand-sculpting clay models. Bringing this skill to the industry helped create some of the finest bodylines that we’ve come to know and love today.

2. Chevrolet Corvette: Earl decided that America needed a real sports car, one that resembled the English and European sports cars that were getting built overseas after WWII.

With Earl’s already established reputation in the automotive industry, he didn’t think he would get too much pull from other executives by presenting the thought of taking on such a risky project as creating a sports car, and he didn’t.

He went to Chevrolet’s general manager, Ed Cole, with a secret project called “Project Opel." With complete confidence in Harley Earl, Mr. Cole gave him the okay with no hesitation. Not more than a year later, in 1953, America would get its first glimpse at what would become the most iconic American sports car ever built, the Chevrolet Corvette.  

3. First Concept Car: The 1939 Buick Y-Job was the first-ever concept car built. Earl recognized early the need to get the public's reaction to a vehicle's appearances and performance before one is put into production.

Under Earl’s supervision and direction, the General Motors styling division created something similar to what they hoped would become the next production car for Buick. With enough interest and feedback from the public, GM put a vehicle into production that turned out to be very successful. With such success with the “concept car”, to this day the concept is used every year by every large automotive corporation in the world. 

 

4. Tailfins: If you like the look of classic cars, then you know you like the look of tailfins. They’re stylish, they’re sexy, and the design of them are credited to Harley J. Earl. First appearing on the Frank Hershey 1948 Cadillac, they became an iconic look that was used throughout the 1950s and 1960s.

After the public accepted the look, Detroit car builders, especially Chrysler, competed to see who could design the most complex, biggest tailfins that could fit on the back of a car while still looking awesome.

An American Automotive Pioneer

Some of the coolest inventions and designs the public gets to enjoy in the automotive industry today are credited to Harley J Earl. Without him, who knows if we would have the Corvette, the ‘57 Chevy, and concept cars among many other great things we get to enjoy credited to Earl. 

You don’t hear about him too much, but we should always remember one of the great pioneers of the automotive industry.

2020 C8 Mid-Engine Corvette Just About Ready For Unveiling

2020 C8 Mid-Engine Corvette

It’s about that time, the cats just about out of the bag and the mid-engine C8 Chevrolet Corvette’s most recent run around Nürburgring raceway has given us a lot to look at.

The 2020 C8 Corvette is getting ready to shred its camouflage. Most all rumors from credible sources all have the same info in common, and that is we will most likely see the first version of the 2020 Vette at the North American International Auto Show.  

But thanks to some great spy photos and some insider info,  we can get a pretty good grasp of what to expect at the Corvette’s international unveiling. Corvette is trying to keep the C8 from falling into a class like the Ford GT, a high-priced limited edition exotic sports car. To accomplish that goal, the new C8 Corvette will be using the C7 Spaceframe to keep cost down.

The C7 Spaceframe is a beautifully designed frame that is more than capable of handling the speeds and the cornering that the C8 will be expected to handle.

The body of the C8 Corvette does feature a lower and wider stance than the C7 Corvette which is much expected. The short front overhang and the big front air dams really make the Corvette look much more like a European supercar. But since Corvette is looking to make a much bigger presence in the global market, the look makes sense.

You won’t find vertical lifting doors (Lambo doors) on these new Corvettes, but you will find a set of dual rear calipers and a set of dual buttress supports placed on both sides of what most people think will be a see-through glass engine cover.

Now The Fun Stuff: Powerplants

When the C8 Corvette was tested at the famous Nürburgring raceway, from what everyone could tell it was being tested with the first engine that will be available with the mid-engine Corvette. That engine is the C7 Stingray 6.2-liter V8 that will put out 500-hp.

Later in the year, a 5.5-liter V8 engine should arrive with a flat plane crank and a DOHC setup pushing out about 600-hp. The next move after that will be to implicate a twin turbocharging option that should boost the Corvette’s 5.5-liter horsepower engine up to 800.  

Corvette has also mentioned plans for a hybrid option. Some old school American car enthusiast might cringe at this idea, but if Corvette wants to compete in the supercar market globally, then they have to get with the times. This new hybrid option will add an electric motor to the front wheels while the twin-turbo engine will be supplying power to the rear wheels ultimately giving the Corvette hybrid a rating of 1,000-hp.

What’s Happening in Bowling Green, KY

About 15 months ago, Corvette closed down their Bowling Green Corvette Plant in Kentucky to make $700 million dollars in upgrades so that they can efficiently mass produce the C8 mid-engine Corvette. The plant will reopen to the public sometime in January 2019.

Unfortunately, with such a massive move to upgrade the plant to accommodate the new C8 Corvette, one can only speculate that Corvette planned for the ZR1 to be the final hooray for the C7 and front engine Corvettes altogether.  

3.8 Million Dollar 1967 L88 Corvette

What made this L88 Corvette so valuable?


To understand that, you first have to understand what the L88 Corvette was, and that was a pure breaded race car. Rated at 430Hp, dyno test proves that number was underrated. Some where around 560Hp was more like the real horsepower rating. The underrating was a deliberate attempt to keep with-in safety regulations imposed by the government.


There were only 20 L88s built in 1967, making them some of the rarest production Corvettes every made. But the one that rolled across the block at the Barrett-Jackson Auction was a one-of-kind. Ordered by a GM executive for his sons friend, it is the only documented '67 L88 with Red-on-Red (Red Exterior - Red Interior) to come off the assembly-line.

What makes it even more rare is the original condition of the vehicle and the condition of the documents. The tank sheet (order copy) which is accessible by dropping the gas tank is surprisingly legible and had all of the correct information that indicated its true L88 fully optioned status.

The GM/NCRS Document Validation Service approved of the documentation and awarded it the prestigious "Top Flight Award" in 2011. It also went on to collect three other prestigious accomplishments: "Duntov Mark of Excellence," "Bloomington Gold Hall of Fame" and was approved in the "Bloomington Gold Special Collection."

This particular Corvette was a two owner car. It spent the first two years of its life racing at Dragways like Detroit, Motor City, and Lapeer in Michigan. And then in 1970 it was sold to its second owner, a teacher who thought he was just getting a regular Corvette. But while doing a brake job one day he realized that the car had unique dual-pin calipers only found on the J56 option which came with the L88. This discovery promoted him to drop the gas tank and seek out the tank sheet where he discovered he had purchased one of the rarest Corvettes that was every made.

After a few more owners, this car finally made its way to the auction block on Saturday afternoon. The Corvette will have a new home, probably a garage somewhere where it will be put on display. Due to the rarity and the amount of money it cost to own this car, I doubt it will ever see the road or any racetracks, but it will probably see a lot of car shows.