Owning History
The appeal of classic sports cars and muscle cars can be explained in one word: nostalgia. That hot rod you coveted when you were 16 may have been out of reach back then — but not any more. What could be better than owning a 1967 Chevy Corvette with a bone-rattling 427/435-horsepower engine, professionally restored (body-off-the-frame) and ready to hit the streets? Nothing.

Unless with the car comes a little piece of American history. This particular ’Vette was owned by Lt. Colonel Gus Grissom, one of the original Mercury Astronauts and the second American to travel into space. Grissom was tragically killed, along with fellow astronauts Roger Chaffee and Edward White, in an Apollo test pad fire in 1967.

Forty years later, the car he raced against fellow astronaut Alan Shepard’s Corvette will roll onto the auction block at the Russo and Steele Collector Automobile Auction on January 20. The event, specializing in European sports cars, American muscle cars, hot rods and customs, runs from January 17 through 21 at the auction site on Scottsdale Road and Loop 101 in Scottsdale. For more information, call 602-252-2697 or visit www.russoandsteele.com.

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