11 replies to this topic

[News Feed]

Charles "Pete" Hagenbuch, who once headed Chrysler's production engine performance tuning and has worked on many of the company's most famous engines, died this morning. Pete graduated from West Virginia University in 1956, and earned an MAE degree from the Chrysler Institute of Engineering in 1958. He worked on the  the 426 Hemi, the B/RB-series big blocks, the LA small blocks, the 2.2 turbos, and even the Australian Hemi Six. In retirement, Pete was friendly and approachable, and volunteered a good deal of his time at the Walter P. Chrysler Museum in Auburn Hills. He participated in a two part interview with Allpar, and answered more questions by email later. He is survived by his wife, Ann, by his children, Cathy, Peter, and Daniel, and by nine grand-children and one great-grandchild. Services will be held on Saturday at 3:30 pm at the University Presbyterian Church in Rochester Hills, Michigan. In..

View the original, full post

[Bob_Sheaves]

Lord, bless this man and let him rest in peace. He was a fine gentleman and only gave his best.

[Stratuscaster]

The tour he provided to us at the Walter P. Chrysler Museum was amazing. The depth of knowledge, the willingness to share the stories - the man truly cared about what he did. It was an honor to meet him, to speak to him, but better yet, to listen to and read his words.

God bless Pete and his family...

[dakrt99]

Sucks to hear about a Chrysler (any man) man passing.  It's pretty awesome that he got to work on the most famous American V8.  RIP.

[artsybob]

RIP and thank you for your assistance in creating some of Chrysler's most legendary engines!

[MoparNorm]

Very sad to hear this. His work and the stories about those engines were inspirational. I'll think of him everytime I rebuild one of his designs.
RIP

[Erik Latranyi]

While no human can escape his ultimate fate, what defines us as men is how we live our life.

Pete is an example to all of us.  RIP

[Doug in Florida]

Bob_Sheaves, on January 11, 2012 at 10:01 pm, said:

Lord, bless this man and let him rest in peace. He was a fine gentleman and only gave his best.

I didn't know him apart from reading the interviews, but from his picture, that is exactly the impression I got.

[freshforged]

Wish I could have been on that tour, he sounds like a fascinating fellow.  Rest in peace Pete.

[Doug D]

Bob_Sheaves, on January 11, 2012 at 10:01 pm, said:

Lord, bless this man and let him rest in peace. He was a fine gentleman and only gave his best.

+1!  May he rest in peace.

[TonyM]

Rest in peace and godspeed.

[Brewster]

We will never forget the wonderfull tour he gave us. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.