https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/featur ... -pioneers/
The telegraph shows a rather fetching model in red with white sides.
source Shutterstock (as reported in the Telegraph article)
The article goes on to say
"Shepard may have been beaten into space by Yuri Gagarin, but the cosmonaut had to settle for a more modest Matra-Bonnet Djet coupé – a gift from the French government"
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=matra ... -d3FLZva6M
NASA wasn't too pleased with GM's gift to Shephard because it might be seen as a government agency endorsing GM's cars! Florida Chevy dealer Jim Rathmann helped get round this problem
" The astronauts would take their cars to him for tuning and advice. With the help of General Motors, Rathmann set up a scheme that allowed the astronauts to lease any Chevy they liked, virtually for free. Not surprisingly, Buzz Aldrin, Gus Grissom and the rest were happy to sign up."
This lead to the "Astrovettes", daring young men tearing round in Corvettes! (advertising gold!). The cars are reported to have featured in the film "The Right Stuff" .
I'll just settle for looking at these cars from over half a century ago!