Our History

Heinz Prechter was born in Germany in 1942 and began his career in the auto industry at the age of 13 by serving as an apprentice at automotive trim and die companies. In 1963, he came to the United States as an exchange student at San Francisco State College, initially with the intent of staying just one year. Prechter fell in love with America, however, and soon sought a permanent visa. His visa arrived in December 1964, and in January 1965, he opened his own business installing sliding sunroofs in cars. Why sunroofs? "It was just something I knew," he later remarked.

In 1967, Prechter moved his American Sunroof Company from Los Angeles to Detroit after securing a contract with Ford Motor Company to install sunroofs in Mercury Cougars. As the years passed, the company ventured beyond sunroofs to include other products such as custom vinyl roofs, special edition vehicles, and one-of-a-kind show cars. By 1978, American Sunroof, or ASC, Inc., had modified more than 1.6 million American-made vehicles and provided another 300,000 sunroof modules for factory installation. In 1993, ASC began supplying sunroofs to Honda and, a year later, began building convertible tops for Toyota.

Prechter was more than an entrepreneur. He was a lifelong auto industry advocate and spokesman, involved with countless community and charitable organizations; a political fundraiser; and presidential confidant. He was an early supporter of the North American Free Trade Agreement and in 1990 was appointed by then-President Bush to serve as chairman of the National Advisory Committee on International Trade. Foremost, he always kept the best interests of the auto industry in mind. Prechter received countless awards and accolades and was named by the Automotive Hall of Fame as industry leader of the year in 1990 and received the Hall of Fame's Distinguished Service Citation in 1996. He remained one of the global auto industry's most visible and effective advocates until his death in 2001. He is survived by his wife Wally and twin children.

“Carpe Diem”

Waltraud E. (“Wally”) Prechter founded the Heinz C. Prechter Bipolar Research Program in November of 2001, following the death of her husband. In 2004, the Program was transferred to the University of Michigan Health System and is now the Heinz C. Prechter Bipolar Research Program at the Michigan Medicine Department of Psychiatry.

For a quarter century, Wally served as the closest business adviser and confidante to her late husband, entrepreneurial visionary Heinz C. Prechter, quietly helping build the business empire that was Prechter Holdings.

Driven by the spirit of giving back to the community, the Prechter family established the World Heritage Foundation, a philanthropic entity dedicated to helping make a difference, primarily in the areas of health and education. Wally has served as President of the World Heritage Foundation - Prechter Family Fund since its inception in 1985.

In May of 2002, she provided testimony before the subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, requesting a significant increase in federal funding of the National Institute on Mental Health and bipolar research. Also in 2002, President George W. Bush appointed her to serve on the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health to help improve the mental healthcare system in America. In 2004, she served on the Michigan Mental Health Commission, appointed by Governor Jennifer Granholm.

Wally has been a positive force in her community, state, and country. She serves in leadership positions in numerous civic and charitable organizations including:

• University of Michigan President’s Advisory Group
• University of Michigan Frances and Eisenberg Family Depression Center National Advisory Board
• University of Michigan School of Education Dean’s Advisory Council
• Henry Ford Health System Foundation Board of Trustees
• College for Creative Studies, Board member 
• Michigan Opera Theatre, Trustee
• Rosehill Center Advisory Board
• Downriver Council for the Arts, Board Member
• German American Heritage Foundation: Member 

Born in Alfershausen, Germany, Wally attended the University of Erlangen. She emigrated to the United States in 1977 and completed her education at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Education with honors.