<VV> Indy winner, Chevy dealer Rathmann, dies (tangential Corvair content)

[Vairtec Corporation]

  Indy winner Rathmann, friend of astronauts dies


    Rathmann was a longtime Brevard Chevy dealer

  *


The 1960 Indianapolis 500 winner Jim Rathmann in 1967.


            The 1960 Indianapolis 500 winner Jim Rathmann in 1967. /
            Photo by Tim Holcomb

Jim Rathmann made his mark in the world of sports, manned spaceflight 
and business. And as disparate as those worlds are, Rathmann’s 
connection to them all had one thing in common: Cars.

Rathmann, who won the 1960 Indianapolis 500, died Wednesday at a Brevard 
County hospice. He was 83 and lived in Indian Harbour Beach.

Son Jimmy Rathmann said in an email message to Indianapolis Motor 
Speedway officials that his father died Wednesday at a hospice facility, 
nine days after having a seizure at his home.

Royal Richard Rathmann was born in Alhambra, Calif., on July 16, 1928. 
He developed a love of fast cars early in life and got his start racing 
in illegal drag races in Southern California as a teenager.

By the time he was 16, he was ready to start racing professionally. 
There was one small snag, though: He wasn’t old enough. He got around 
that inconvenient fact by switching ID cards with his older brother, 
James. Though he never legally changed his name, for the rest of his 
professional life he was known as Jim Rathmann while his brother, also a 
racer, was known as Dick Rathmann.

By the late 1940s, Rathmann was barnstorming around the Midwest stock 
car circuit, racing as often as eight times a week. In 1949, Rathmann 
qualified for the Indy 500 and finished 11th as a 20-year-old rookie.

Rathmann raced in another 13 Indy 500s, often running against his 
brother. By 1959, he had finished second three times, but hadn’t managed 
to take the checkered flag.

That changed in 1960, in what many race historians consider the greatest 
Indy 500 ever. Rathmann and Roger Ward, the man who had beaten Rathmann 
the year before, rode neck and neck for most of the race, though 
Rathmann managed to edge ahead at the end.

Not long after the race, *Ed Cole*, the head of General Motors Chevrolet 
division offered Rathmann a Chevy dealership. In 1961, Jim Rathmann 
Chevrolet opened in Melbourne.

After moving to Brevard County, Rathmann quickly became friends with 
many of the early astronauts who were training at Cape Canaveral. 
Through Cole, he arranged a deal where where the astronauts could lease 
Chevys for very little money. And so was born the legend of the 
astronauts holding midnight races of Corvettes at the Cape, something 
famously documented in Tom Wolfe’s book, “The Right Stuff.” Often, 
Rathmann was among those doing the racing.

Rumor has it that a Rathmann dealership decal was affixed to one of the 
Lunar Rovers.

Rathmann turned over the car business to his son in 1988. Jim Rathmann 
Chevrolet in Melbourne was sold in July 2007.

Rathmann returned to Indianapolis nearly every year for the 500 and 
drove the pace car six times. His last appearance was in 2009. He had 
been the oldest living 500 winner. Parnelli Jones is now the oldest 
living winner by age, and A.J. Foyt the winner of the earliest 500.

Rathmann is in the Auto Racing Hall of Fame and the Motorsports Hall of 
Fame.

Rathmann is survived by wife Kay, sons Jimmy and Jay, stepsons Zack and 
Tosh Pence, five grandchildren and one great-grandchild. In lieu of 
flowers, the family requests donations be made to: William Childs 
Hospice House, 381 Medplex Parkway, Palm Bay, FL 32907.