I know most of you have never heard of Herb Grasse, but he was responsible for a lot of the design work that we have all admired in the automotive industry. He designed the Brickilin back in the 70's. He also did the Dodge Challenger and the Dart, along with many other designes he was involved in like the Batmobile.
Since my father was the inventor of the rotary vee engine, I found myself around some very interesting people like Herb Grasse, and Malcolm Bricklin. I remember spending the majority of a summer in Pheonix while dad was in business meetings with Bricklin, and particularly remember being at Herb's house.
I called to talk with Herb tonight, only to hear from his wife that he passed away this August 24th. from cancer. I told her that I remembered three things from my visit at the age of 10 (36 years ago), that I wanted to mention. I remembered he had a Mangusta in his garage. She said "yes you remember right". I said I'll never forget Herb sitting down in front of my brother and I, and painting us a picture of a sports car. I told her I still have the painting. Then I told her I remember a third thing that might sound a little strange, but I remembered that they had an aligator in the bathtub. She confirmed this to be true. She said they kept it for some friends while they were on vacation. She then told me how her and Herb took turns holding the aligator while the other took a bath.
During the conversation I emailed her the painting that Herb did for us long ago. She was very blessed to be able to add this to her collection of his work. I have attached it in memory of a great concept designer that we have all looked on his work in our daily lives when out on the road.
Michael
Since my father was the inventor of the rotary vee engine, I found myself around some very interesting people like Herb Grasse, and Malcolm Bricklin. I remember spending the majority of a summer in Pheonix while dad was in business meetings with Bricklin, and particularly remember being at Herb's house.
I called to talk with Herb tonight, only to hear from his wife that he passed away this August 24th. from cancer. I told her that I remembered three things from my visit at the age of 10 (36 years ago), that I wanted to mention. I remembered he had a Mangusta in his garage. She said "yes you remember right". I said I'll never forget Herb sitting down in front of my brother and I, and painting us a picture of a sports car. I told her I still have the painting. Then I told her I remember a third thing that might sound a little strange, but I remembered that they had an aligator in the bathtub. She confirmed this to be true. She said they kept it for some friends while they were on vacation. She then told me how her and Herb took turns holding the aligator while the other took a bath.
During the conversation I emailed her the painting that Herb did for us long ago. She was very blessed to be able to add this to her collection of his work. I have attached it in memory of a great concept designer that we have all looked on his work in our daily lives when out on the road.
Michael
