Folks, Our GREAT friend Joe Guzek is not well. I believe Sunday Aug 17 Joe had a stroke, that day he was not expected to make it. His wife Mary explained that they administered a stroke medication which if received in a short period of time your chance of survival increase. Well, it looks like it worked she said, thank God. Joe is on day five today, he has good movement on his right side but his left side needs work. He has feelings and some movement. Yesterday, Mary said Joe has a fairly bad headache but was talking and telling some stories. At this time they feel Joe could walk again but he may be in for a few months. Joe lives in Michigan not far from Denny Manner. Joe and Denny have been attending the Buick events for many years sharing there experiences and stories with many. For those of you that do not know Joe Guzek, he is known as the wheel guy. Joe has been involved with more than just wheels over the years but that was his thing for GM when our loved cars were being designed. Please keep Joe in your heart and prayers.
Re: JOE GUZEK not well Update, Joe is doing better today, his headache is much better. Denny seen him just a short while ago and said he was talking and indicated that Mary said Joe looked much better today. His left side is a bit lazy though. Anyone have a picture of Joe they could post.
Re: JOE GUZEK not well My thoughts are with Joe and his family during this difficult time. Hope he has a full recovery. I met Joe at BPG 2013 when he and Denny had a Q & A session. Joe was very patient with our questions, and he impressed me by coming to me afterward to further my knowledge about the 65 GS wheel. A class act all the way.
For those who do not know, Joe was a motor wheel engineer at Buick, and he was the one responsible for the wheel design on the GSX.
OMG just saw this. Any updates? He also autographed a Spyder wheel from a set I restored and helped with info on the restoration. And also history with the Reynolds/KB Motor Wheel relationship. I will say a prayer for Joe. Here are some pictures of him.
Prayers for Joe's recovery. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tf474btiesA/ToZMxuduLAI/AAAAAAAAAe0/Wq8SKSf7nTQ/s1600/100_6266.JPG
Prayers for Joe. American designers and engineers like him made American cars great. Guys like him are getting fewer and fewer.
sounds like the clot buster drug worked. This expensive drug can be a very effective in dissolving a clot or it can cause a fatal brain bleed. it worked for him! best wishes to joe.
Talked with Denny Manner early today. Not a lot of new information to pass along at this time. Denny said that he and Roberta Vasialow will be visiting Joe tomorrow and he would call me afterwards. I will update everyone then.
Joe is a very nice man. I met him several times at the Buick events and he was always very helpful. Both he and Denny were very surprised about all the attention they received at the events, but they got used to it after a while. I remember him smiling when we talked with him about what we figured out with the wheel date codes/application codes. He was both impressed and surprised at the level of interest we showed towards his work. An extremely nice, well spoken man. My thoughts go out to him, hope he gets better and makes it to more events. Duane
86-87 GN wheel designer as well and many others. Denny treated many people including me to dinner last year at BG about 20 plus people at a Mexican restaurant. Joe and him have some great "off the record" stories from back in the day. Buick lovers have been beyond lucky since all events have had Denny, Joe and many others intricately involved in the GS and turbo Regals attend and share stories on the design, building, engineering, and production of our beloved Buicks. Prayers to Joe and a great standout guy he is even when you meet him the first time (like Denny). I thanked Denny on Friday morning at BG after dinner and him and Joe are thrilled to see the enthusiast backing on cars that haven't been produced in decades. But the best part is they are super humble about their impact. Not something you find today that is for sure:Brow:
Joe is being moved to another part of the hospital for rehab therapy. He has started eating some normal food and is more talkative. Even started joking a bit. His memory seems to be intact. It looks like it will take him awhile to get back to business. The great thing is, that he is improving. Denny & Roberta stopped by and visited him today.
Update. Denny stopped to see Joe yesterday and says he is making some progress. He is sitting up in his wheel chair, dressed and much more talkative. He goes to rehab everyday. Denny said that Joe asked him if he had a Nailhead crankshaft print because he was thinking that they should build a 494 Nailhead stroker. Denny felt that to be encouraging that Joe's mind is still hard a work. Joe's left side is very lazy including his eye, but after a few weeks he is better now than then. If anyone else has any stories or pictures to share, maybe you could post them.
I met Joe at the first BPG Nationals - I still have the business card that he gave me. I have a little hero worship going on for the guys who worked at Buick back in the '60s - maybe because they were my Dad's generation or that they made the cars that I wanted when I was a kid - or maybe because they got paid to dream up and build badass stuff. They were sure as hell good at it.
Saying many prayers for Joe for a quick recovery. What a great guy, and would be happy to talk to you for a while! He signed my car too! Get well soon Joe.
