Heinz Prechter: Gave America the sunroof and George W. Bush

Preston Tucker isn't the only automotive luminary buried at Michigan Memorial Park in Flat Rock. So is Heinz Prechter.

Founder of the automotive aftermarket company American Sunroof, you could easily argue that Prechter gave America the sunroof. Prior to establishing ASC (Southgate MI) and landing contracts with several major automotive companies, the sunroof was found mostly on VW imports. Prechter's company put a sunroof in Lyndon B. Johnson's personal limousine enabling Johnson to stand up and hunt from his car.

Dubbed the "Duke of Downriver, Prechter was a charismatic cheerleader for the southeast Michigan region and put lots of dollars into the community as well. He even proposed a bridge uniting the Downriver area and Canada. When he proposed it, people loved the idea. Years later, when the bridge might actually have become a reality, people opposed it in droves,

For better or worse, Prechter was a cheerleader for the Republican Party and his financing efforts helped put George W. Bush into office.

One online source said:" Prechter hosted a hunting get together for Bush and 12 top GOP fundraisers at his 10,000-acre Texas ranch the next year. Bush emerged from this hunt as the GOP moneyed elite's candidate. Prechter and two other Michigan Pioneers, Suzie Mitchell and Paul Welday, organized American Dreamers an effort to raise money for Bush from minorities who are rarely sighted among the Pioneers. Prechter's zeal for Bush fundraising is so great that he reportedly made a pitch when he found himself standing next to a potential donor at a urinal."

Prechter was very good friends with George Sr.

Tragedy struck the family of Heinz C. Prechter on July 6, 2001. The legendary business leader fell victim to suicide after battling intermittent bouts of manic depression for most of his adult life. He was only 59 years old.

Happy History! Remember, History is all around you. Seek it out!

Karin Risko,
The Happy Historian