As a naval aviator, test pilot, and NASA astronaut, Capt. Jim Lovell traveled in some remarkable vehicles over the course of his long, storied lifetime, including spacecraft attached to 360-foot-tall Saturn V rockets capable of 24,200 miles per hour. His most well-known ride is one that didn't go as planned --Apollo 13 -- where he uttered the words later paraphrased and immortalized by Tom Hanks: "Houston, we've had a problem here." But Lovell had other special rides, including ones much closer to the ground,
such as his 1968 Chevrolet C3 Corvette.
The silver Corvette is currently on display at the National Corvette Museum, located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, where it houses some of the most notable makes and models from Chevy, including the only 1983 Corvette still in existence. Its inclusion of Lovell's ride is a testament to the legacy of both the astronaut and his 1968 C3, part of the Corvette's legendary and incredibly cool Shark Generation. The Corvette C3 models made between 1968 and 1982 earned this nickname because their design borrowed from Bill Mitchell's famous Mako Shark II concept, deviating greatly from the previous C2 generation.
With its low-slung body, flared fenders, and pointed nose, Lovell's choice of a silver Corvette made it especially shark-like. His 1968 C3 was powered by a 327-ci engine capable of delivering 300 horsepower. Despite Lovell's history as a test pilot, requiring exceptional handling skills, the 1968 C3 was an automatic. Lovell wasn't the only astronaut behind the wheel of a 'Vette. In fact, the Corvette was closely associated with NASA's astronauts at the time.
Read more: 5 Of The Highest Horsepower Muscle Cars Of The 1980s
Astronauts Had A Sweet Deal For Leasing Chevys
General Motors gave astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American to travel to space, a 1962 Corvette. However, astronauts had to pay a little bit more for their Chevys going forward -- a whopping $1 per year. That's how much Jim Rathmann, an Indy 500 champion and owner of a Chevrolet dealership near Cape Canaveral, charged NASA astronauts to lease his Chevys. Most of the astronauts who took Rathmann up on this sweet deal chose Corvettes. Lovell leased multiple 'Vettes over the course of his NASA career.
His vehicle exhibit includes an Apollo 8 commemorative medallion, a pair of his astronaut gloves, an issue of Newsweek with Lovell on the cover, and a lunar navigational chart signed by nine astronauts. Lovell flew on Gemini missions for NASA before he and his Apollo 8 crew -- a groundbreaking NASA mission -- became the first humans to ever leave Earth's gravitational influence and the first to reach and orbit the Moon.
Two years later, Lovell was set to walk on the lunar surface, but the Apollo 13 mission he commanded was aborted due to a catastrophic malfunction that put the lives of all three men aboard in severe danger, 200,000 miles from home. "His calm strength under pressure helped return the crew safely to Earth," said acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy of Lovell after his passing (via NASA). Capt. Jim Lovell passed at the age of 97 in August 2025.
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