Today’s Nice Price or No Dice Camaro has the distinction of having been owned by a man who once played golf on the moon. Now, it’s going up for sale, with some of the purchase price going to a worthy cause. Let’s see how worthy the car and its history are at its asking.
Without a doubt, the original BMC Mini can be considered a small car with a disproportionately big impact on the motoring world. Not only was it built for decades, but that production made its way to Italy in the form of the 1970 Innocenti Mini 850 that we looked over yesterday. Small, efficient, and undeniably charming, our Latinate Mini did suffer from some wear and tear and a bit of noticeable rust. For many of you, that all seemed too much to bear for its $9,800 asking price, and the Mini fell in a sizable 73 percent No Dice loss to start our week.
As impressive a feat as Alec Issigonis’ original Mini was from a packaging perspective, it couldn’t hold a candle to that of any of the space capsules that protected the brave astronauts of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space missions that coincided with the Mini’s heyday.
It all started on May 5, 1961, when test pilot turned astronaut Alan Shepard was strapped into his Mercury capsule, the Freedom 7, and rocketed to a suborbital apogee, 116 miles above the Earth’s surface. Shepard’s successful flight thus made him the second person and the first American in space.
His second jaunt off the planet was much longer and a good bit more eventful. Shepard served as the commander of the Apollo 14 Moon mission in which he and fellow astronaut Edgar Mitchell hop-stepped across the lunar surface, allowing Shepard to enjoy some impromptu golf swings.
As we all know, it was traditional for NASA’s astronauts to be provided with a shiny new Corvette to tool around in in-between their stints in outer space. Alan Shepard had one such ’Vette, but apparently, he needed something with a little more room for his and his wife’s golf bags — he really loved his golf — and so he bought this 1995 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 convertible from the same Florida dealer that provided all the astronauts with their Corvettes. Sadly, Admiral Shepard would only get to enjoy the car for a mere three years, having lost his battle with chronic lymphocytic leukemia in July of 1998.
The Camaro has lived on and today sports 68,000 miles along with a rich and fully documented history. This Z28 is optioned out with the standard 275 horsepower LT1 5.7-liter V8 and the expected 4L60E four-speed automatic. Full power accessories make this a comfortable cruiser, and with its Quasar Blue metallic paint and camel interior and top (this was the first year for contrasting color tops), it’s quite the looker, too.
According to the ad, the dealer-offered astro-ride has had some recent maintenance, including new tires and brake pads, and comes with a clean title and a clear CarFax. The only non-original part outside of the normal consumables is a Panasonic radio that replaced the factory Delco when the latter took a dump.
A new owner will also get a ton of paperwork documenting the car’s provenance and a photo of the Admiral and his wife with the car authorized by the Shepard family to be included with the sale. The car wears its original California plates and a Pebble Beach Golf Links license plate frame, although the dealer (and apparently the car) is located in Waller, Texas. It’s all offered for the sum of $250,000. Or at least, it soon will be.
Per the ad:
Later this year & with support from the Shepard family, it will be offered for sale for $250k & a percentage of the proceeds going towards The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation which Admiral Shepard founded with the other original Mercury 7 Astronauts.
So, that seemingly means that neither you nor I can just hop over to Waller and plunk down a quarter million right now to drive off in Shepard’s Z28. That’s OK, I can wait. Plus, part of that payment will be for a noble cause.
According to the dealer presently possessing the car, Alan Shepard’s 1968 Corvette sold in 2022 for $308,000 at auction. That’s arguably a more valuable car in today’s market, but all things taken into account, could this Camaro Z28 rightfully bring $250K for its cause?
What do you think? Does that seem like a fair deal for a former astronaut’s car with the added benefit of being able to carry multiple golf bags? Or, with such a price, will this Chevy be stuck sitting on the launch pad?
You decide!
Los Angeles, California, Craigslist (although the car is in Texas), or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to FauxShizzle for the hookup!
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