HISTORY OF THIS CAR!
The Astronauts...and their love affair with the Corvette....
On May 5th, 1961 Alan Shepard became the very first American and the second human being to enter space...he went in the Freedom 7.
Long before his 1st entry into space, Alan was earning himself a reputation as "Mr. Corvette"
Virgil I "GUS" Grissom was born on April 3rd, 1926 in Mitchell, Indiana.
Gus was one of the seven Mercury Astronauts selected in April on 1959.
GuS was the second American launched into space on July 21st, 1961 when he piloted the Liberty Bell spacecraft on a sub-orbital flight that lasted 15 minutes and 37 seconds and attained an altitude of 118 statute miles and traveled 302 miles downrange from the launch pad at Cape Kennedy.
Gus also commanded Gemini 3 and was the very first human to travel into space twice. On March 23rd, 1965 he was the command pilot on the first manned Gemini flight. It was a 3 orbit mission and this was the very first orbital trajectory modification flight and first lifting reentry of a manned spacecraft.
Grissom was named to serve as the command pilot for the AS 204 mission....the very first 3 man Apollo flight.
Lieutenant Colonel Grissom, along with Astronaut Roger Chaffee and Edward White died on January 27th, 1967 in a flash fire during a launch pad test at Kennedy Space Center, Florida
In a funeral reminiscent to President Kennedy, our entire nation grieved as these 3 heroes were laid to rest with full military honors at Arlington Nation Cemetery....Congress awarded all three fallen heroes the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.(posthumously)
Gus had previously been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Air Medal with clusters for his 100+ missions in the Korean War. Additionally, he had received the NASA exceptional Service Medal and the Airforce Command Astronaut Wings.
In the early Fall of 1966 Gus took delivery from a long time friend of mine, Jim Rathmann. Jim sponsored my 1962 Chevrolet 409 (Black Thunder)
Jim had moved from Miami to Melbourne after having won the 1960 Indianapolis 500 Race and opened Jim Rathmann Chevrolet/Cadillac in 1961. Jim had run at Indy 14 times, never hit the wall, and finished 2nd, 3 other times prior to taking the checkered flag in 1960....I was there to witness this incredible race!
Jim was close friends with the GM of Chevrolet, Ed Cole, who became President of Chevrolet and eventually Chairman of General Motors.
Jim personally delivered this car to Gus as they had become very close friends.
Jim, Gus and Alan Shepard were constantly racing each other...most of the time late at night on the deserted back streets around Melbourne.....Alan could never beat Gus in the 1/4 mile and it really frustrated him...Jim had installed a 4:56 rear end which gave Gus a tremendous edge in 1/4 mile racing....one day when they let Alan in on Gus's secret, Alan half-heartedly cracked a smile, but he really didn't think it was funny....like all the Astronauts...he was very competitive in every thing he did...and he hated losing all the time to Gus.
Several month's after the tragic accident, Betty Grissom called Jim Rathmann and said that she wanted to sell Gus's Corvette. At that time, all of the homes and cars were titled in the name of their respective wives, so Betty sent the title of Gus's Corvette to Jim. (see copy of title)
As soon as it arrived, one of the fellows who worked at the Cape, contacted Jim and purchased Gus's Corvette. His name was John Wasik of Cocoa, Florida
Tragedy struck again when John was killed in a sky-diving accident just 3 weeks later.
Gus's Vette was immediately sold again...this time to Mel Phoenix of Merritt Island, Florida.
Mel owned the car for many years until he sold it to a Gentleman in Texas.
In 1985 this car was advertised for sale in Hemming's Magazine...the price was $9995.
Jim Falkowski hopped on the first jet he could and purchased the car. At that time it had just over 27,000 miles and Jim drove it back to his home in South Florida.
Jim cherished this car for more than twenty years. He won many awards including a TOP FLIGHT NCRS award, Multiple year Cypress Garden NCRS Top Flight awards ,A Corvette National Homecoming award in Bowling Green and more than 20 first place awards and certificates.
Jim never, ever intended to sell this car, but as a result of a marital dispute, Jim very reluctantly agreed to sell me his incredible Corvette.
He explained to me that this car had dramatically changed his life...for the better.
Jim was invited and attended Parades in honor of past and present Astronauts and this car on several occasions carried Astronauts in Parades at the Cape and other locations.
I have many magazines, articles, and news clippings which document this Corvette's phenomenal history.
The "body-off-the-frame" restoration was done several years ago...but because this car has always been kept indoors in climate controlled conditions...it looks and drives as if it was done and completed in the last couple of months.
I keep this car in a enclosed bubble that changes the air every couple of minutes. It deserves that type of special care.
