# RIP, Jim Rathmann. An obit you might really want to read. **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [December 6, 2011, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-jim-rathmann-an-obit-you-might-really-want-to-read/605235 "2011-12-06T04:23:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-jim-rathmann-an-obit-you-might-really-want-to-read/605235/1 "2011-12-06T04:23:48Z")
I doubt that very few members of this Board have any idea of who Jim Rathmann is. He won the 1960 Indy 500. Yet, if you read his NY Times obit you can’t help but admire him, be entertained or just say, “that was interesting.” RIP Jim Rathmann. You lived a life worth living. [http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/03/sports/autoracing/jim-rathmann-1960-indianapolis-500-winner-dies-at-83.html?scp=1&sq=jim%20rathmann&st=cse](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/03/sports/autoracing/jim-rathmann-1960-indianapolis-500-winner-dies-at-83.html?scp=1&sq=jim%20rathmann&st=cse) ---
**Author:** ![Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/43a26b/32.png) [@Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pine_Fresh_Scent)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-jim-rathmann-an-obit-you-might-really-want-to-read/605235/2 "2011-12-06T04:37:55Z")
> [@](#): > > Rathmann parlayed his driving success into a thriving Chevrolet-Cadillac dealership in Melbourne, Fla., where he worked with General Motors to enable astronauts to lease cars at virtually no cost. A Corvette once owned by the astronaut Alan Shepard is now displayed in the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum beside a sign that says it came from Rathmann. Nice article. From _Apollo 13_ I remember the eye-catching Corvette that Gary Sinise (playing astronaut Ken Mattingly) sits on to watch the launch. One more detail they got right. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-jim-rathmann-an-obit-you-might-really-want-to-read/605235/3 "2011-12-07T01:46:36Z")
One of the best stories in _The Right Stuff_ was about when Gordon Cooper took him flying. he told Rathmann not to fly too low or pigeons would crap on the plane. Rathmann laughed and Cooper took that as a challenge and proved it. If you ever wondered what it would take to scare a guy who won the Indy 500 when cars were essentially deathtraps, that’s what it took. He had a hell of a life. RIP. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_jeffrey_lebowski/32/215_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-jim-rathmann-an-obit-you-might-really-want-to-read/605235/4 "2011-12-07T02:25:32Z")
Here’s my favorite tidbit: > [@](#): > > Royal Richard Rathmann was born outside Los Angeles in Alhambra, Calif., on July 16, 1928, and was called Dick. He earned renown in Southern California drag-racing circles, receiving 48 traffic tickets before he was 18 — four during one lunch break. He moved to Chicago to race hot rods, then stock cars.When he was ruled too young to compete in a stock car race in Iowa in the 1940s, his older brother, James, traded driver’s licenses with him. (James was not competing in the race.) From then on, Dick Rathmann was Jim; Jim Rathmann, Dick. These are 2 things that couldn’t happen to someone here, in this day and age. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-jim-rathmann-an-obit-you-might-really-want-to-read/605235/5 "2011-12-07T03:00:57Z")
In hindsight, when you think of it, Jim Rathmann, and his free Corvettes, were a bigger threat to the moon effort than the KGB. 😃