Nothing captures the imagination quite like a shiny new sports car shredding the interstate on a sunny summer day.
And few cars capture the public’s imagination like the Dodge Viper. Necks craned and swiveled in the 90s enviously trying to catch a glimpse.
Springfield Township resident Bob Hubbach was a major designing force behind Viper mania.
While working for Chrysler in 1991, Hubbach’s theme sketch of the Viper helped kick off the phenomenon, but his work did not stop then. He explained a lot of effort went into converting the show car to a production car.
‘The original Viper was a show car without feasibility. When they captured the public’s mind they looked to make a production model,? said Hubbach. ‘My job was to make it look like the show car, but meet all production standards.?
Hubbach credited his coworkers as a very energetic and focused group allowing the Viper to become a corporate standard and legacy. He also acknowledged the efforts of Chrysler President Bob Lutz and Chief Designer Tom Gale.
‘No one does the whole thing, but I was given credit of being the principal designer on the production version of the Viper Roadster,? said Hubbach.
According to Hubbach, the Viper show car came out in the mid-90’s followed by the production model in 1995.
Noting that as a designer he usually worked about 3 years ahead of time, Hubbach said he spent nine years on the Viper.
‘I poured more energy into that vehicle than anything else. I know that car inside and out.?
Besides the Viper, Hubbach’s resum? includes work on the Australian Charger during 1970. While in Australia, Hubbach saw the Charger racing.
‘They took me to see the car and it was racing. While we knew that was a possibility for the car, it was designed as a less expensive sport coupe from a luxury model,? said Hubbach.
Other projects Hubbach participated in are the Chrysler Atlantic, Dodge Copperhead, theme design for Chrysler 300C and the 1994 Dodge Caravan.
In February 2001, Hubbach retired from Chrysler with a group of 32 others after a long successful career. Originally, General Motors hired Hubbach straight from college in 1962 as a designer. His work was conceptual and dealt more with ascetics and styling then engineering. He joined Chrysler in 1967.
Hubbach continues to use his talents to produce things that appeal to the senses much like his car designs. With an art studio at his residence, he creates many landscape paintings, primarily with watercolors though, he does use other mediums.
‘Landscape painting is relaxing. I go out on location and paint what I see? I’ll do something small, sometimes big, and then make a larger picture in my studio,? said Hubbach.
Noting he must travel light, Hubbach said he seldom carries an easel with him.
‘I’ll stop along the road when I see something I want to paint. I’ll plop down the tailgate on my truck. I paint when I can, where I can,? he said.
Hubbach credits his wife, Irene, with foregoing work on some of her interests, such as a pottinghouse, so that he could complete his art studio.
The same appreciation for the rural country evident in his painting, influenced the Hubbach family move from West Bloomfield to Springfield Township in 1973.
‘We wanted to be out in the country and we saw the property. Even though the house was small, we decided to get it and never regretted it,? said Hubbach.
Besides landscaping art, Hubbach enjoys automotive art by depicting drivers and cars of interest to him in races after researching them.
‘Sometimes I’ll paint the vehicle in the setting. I like to portray the car in its natural element,? said Hubbach.
His love for art started with drawing at an early age.
‘My parents sent me to art school because I was drawing in school and bugging the teachers. I went to art school on Saturdays,? said Hubbach.
While his parents did not share the same deep passion for drawing and painting, Hubbach recalled his father’s appreciation for music and credits that for some of his own musical interest.
‘I play by ear, it’s a gift from God. I can listen to something a few times and play it,? said Hubbach.
After tinkering with the piano in college and developing skills on the banjo and harmonica, Hubbach discovered the hammer dulcimer at age 37. From then on, the hammer dulcimer became his instrument of choice.
Most summers since 1975, Hubbach has attended the Original Dulcimer Players Club Fun Festival at the Osceola County Fair Grounds in Evart, Michigan (often simply referred to as Evart).
‘There’s always new people, but people come back year after year. It’s a mecca for hammer dulcimer players from out West and East,? said Hubbach.
At the festival Hubbach enjoys playing his hammer dulcimer among the other nonelectric instrument musicians from around the country.
Occasionally, Hubbach teaches workshops at Evart, ‘I teach one or two. I don’t hand out music sheets. I want them to really get the tune in their head, not to rely on music. You can become a slave to a sheet of music.
This year, Hubbach took a CD named ‘Up North Down East: Hammer Dulcimer in the Northern Latitudes? to Evart, consisting of 23 tunes performed by Bob Hubbach with Friends.
While having performed other times with groups on albums, this was the first he recorded on his own.