Here's Where Neil Armstrong's Corvette Is Today

Neil Armstrong is arguably the most famous of NASA's legendary astronauts after taking "one giant leap for mankind" on July 20, 1969. It's hard to avoid becoming immortal when an estimated 650 million people watch you become the first person to walk on the moon.

Two years before his iconic Apollo 11 mission, Armstrong was buzzing around NASA in a 1967 Corvette Sting Ray coupe he had leased from Jim Rathmann, a Melbourne, Florida, Chevrolet dealer. The car came with a big block 390hp 427-cubic inch V-8, four-speed transmission, and was loaded with air-conditioning, power brakes, and tinted power windows. Rathmann, a former Indianapolis 500 winner, is known for convincing GM officials to let him lease Corvettes to astronauts for $1. If that weren't incentive enough, they could trade them in year later for newest model. Armstrong drove the '67 Sting Ray around for a year and, as the lease agreement allowed, traded it in for a Corvette convertible in 1968 (via Haggerty).

The day after Armstrong turned in his Marina Blue coupe, a NASA employee purchased it and kept it for 44 years, according to Hemmings. The car was parked in a climate-controlled garage in the basement of his home in Georgia from 1981 until 2012. Aside from modifying the fender flares, the car was kept in original condition.

In 2012, a retired Brevard County Sheriff's Office commander named Joe Crosby purchased the vehicle from the former NASA employee. Crosby is a Corvette restorer, per Hemmings. He's also member of the Cape Kennedy Corvette Club, the same one Armstrong was part of back in the day (via Haggerty).

Merritt Island, Florida, Corvette buff Joe Crosby first heard about the Armstrong's car in 1979, not because of the famous astronaut, but because it still had its original engine. Since he was already working on two other Corvettes at the time, he didn't purchase the car. Eventually, he learned that it was Armstrong's ride and repeatedly reached out to the former NASA employee over the years to see if he wanted to sell. Nothing happened ... until 2012.

When Crosby got the car, he initially wanted to sell it and listed it on eBay. Although a sky-high bid of $250,090 was made, it still didn't meet Crosby's hidden reserve price, so he decided to keep the car to restore the historic vehicle fully. After some prodding by the National Corvette Museum in Kentucky and other preservationists, Crosby was convinced to preserve the car (via Viera Voice).

In 2014, the fully preserved Sting Ray was displayed at the Visitor's Complex at the Kennedy Space Center. Crosby says he'll drive it down to the end of his street and back but won't get on the open road for fear of getting in an accident. He tows it in his trailer to and from exhibits, and while he has received several offers from would-be space jockeys or to put it in a museum, he will only sell it if he thinks someone will care for the way he does, according to the Viera Voice.