Neil Armstrong died on August 25th of this year and the nation mourned, doubly so. First for the man, and second for what he stood for: hero, explorer, icon of a time when all that was best in America rose up on a pillar of smoke and flame to dance among the heavens.
The astronauts, of course, all drove Corvettes. GM gave a white ’62 to first-flyer Alan Shepard upon his return to Earth, then a Florida dealership provided subsequent one-year leasing deals to put astronauts behind the wheel of the latest models – clever PR for sure, and yet it seemed a perfect fit. While the very first ‘Vettes were more Piper Cub than Bell X-1, those that would be piloted by the likes of Gus Grissom and Alan Bean had the Right Stuff; the fastest and best machines America could produce.
Sixty years after GM built the first Corvette (and about fifty-six since they got the recipe right), here we are with an explorer on Mars, and it’s a robot with a sarcastic twitter feed. Heroes are scarce; the cult of celebrity now shines a spotlight on the kind of people you’d cross the street to avoid. And as for the Corvette? (Read More…)
Tagged as 427, america, Convertible, Corvette, Manual, Rocketman, vette
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jimbob457 - I haven’t talked to Boone in several decades, so I don’t know what he has been up to lately – he must be 90+ by now,...
ICARFAN - No envy syndrome for me, for 100K I expect a car to have 100K worth of engineering and the ability to take me a 100K in miles with basic...
el scotto - The are a few who don’t think “Jermyn Street” is spelled funny when you pronounce it and shop there and also understand some...
Numbers_Matching - Had a ride in a 500E back in the day that I will never forget. This one is on my short list.
AFX - “If you aren’t making mistakes you aren’t trying hard enough.” That would look perfect as one of those...
Pan - So, you don’t like Rover products. Your attitude tends to make the entire article irrelevant. Repeating the old canard that Toyotas have replaced...
el scotto - I would be a Magnificent Bastard driving one. Red with a stunning blonde. Sir William would approve.
Ratsnake - Around this time Porsche also consulted on the Volvo Modular Engine. Of course, I’d rather have a 500e.
DubTee1480 - User name change resulted in the link breaking, nothing intentional. New link: http://stevenlang dot kinja dot...
el scotto - How many auto consumers did the math and became EV buyers?