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It is with a heavy heart that I send this thread. Yesterday, Rich Lagasse passed away with his family by his side. My wife and I have lost an extraordinary friend who cannot be replaced. He built the finest resto-mods on the planet and literally wrote the book on how, why, and where to find it. His creations speak for themselves and his attention to detail was second to none! The Corvette World has lost an exceptional mentor. We send our Love and Condolences to his family, Barbara, Chris, and Mike and their family's! This man will be missed by many.
Jim & Janet Dawes
That is sad news. He was a real gentleman accompanied by one gracious lady. He added class to the hobby, showed us some serious first class cars and fit in with us all. Dennis
It is with a heavy heart that I send this thread. Yesterday, Rich Lagasse passed away with his family by his side. My wife and I have lost an extraordinary friend who cannot be replaced. He built the finest resto-mods on the planet and literally wrote the book on how, why, and where to find it. His creations speak for themselves and his attention to detail was second to none! The Corvette World has lost an exceptional mentor. We send our Love and Condolences to his family, Barbara, Chris, and Mike and their family's! This man will be missed by many. Jim & Janet Dawes
Did not know him but sorry to hear......I looked up to his restomods as something to chase as I was building mine...Rich was WAY ahead of the curve early on restomod design and build...Split Personality is the Best of the Best...RIP....
Sorry to hear the news , He was a true gentleman. My sincere condolences to Barb and the family. One of the nicest people I have meet in the hobby, would talk to anyone.
This is such sad news! I can remember following along every day as Rich updated the Forum over the 18 month build of his custom 63 SWC Restomod tilted "Split Pesronality". I sent him numerous PM's during the process to pick his brain about various aspects of his build. I even went to Corvettes @ Carlisle in 2009 to see his masterpiece and to meet Rich & Barbara in person. What an amazing car he built . . . I have always considered it the "Mona Lisa" of C2 restomods - it was spectacular! . . . and Rich was an amazing guy as well. We chatted for @ 15 minutes, and at one point he asked me @ my car and if I had done any mods to mine. I stated that I was in the early planning stages of putting a 5 speed in my car . . . and he said to me - "send me your home address, I have something for you"! I didn't think anything of it at the time, but I sent him my address in an email a few days later, and within a week I received an envelope with a custom 5 speed console plaque that he had made for his earlier 67 restomod. I still have it in my car today! RIP Rich - you will be missed!
A great guy. He would always answer my questions, always. He shared his time without hesitation. The hobby lost a great contributor, his family lost a great husband and father, The world lost a good guy.
2025 C8 Z06/7/E-Ray of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2023 C3 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2021 C8 of the Year Finalist Unmodified
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
2019 C1 of Year Winner (performance mods)
2017 Corvette of the Year Finalist
2016 C2 of Year
2015 C3 of Year Finalist
Very sorry to hear this. Rich was a terrific guy and a great ambassador for this Corvette addiction we all share. My thoughts are with Barbara and the family.
RIP Rich.
Sad news indeed. I met him several times at local shows here in CT, class act for sure. I had not seen him in a few years though. The 67 was my favorite.
Rich and I worked for the same company in different locations. I first met him and Barb in 1995 driving both of their mid-years (66 AIR coupe and 67 Vert) to the first Corvette show I ran at Hartford Life in Simsbury Ct. Over the years was fortunate to witness the spark of an idea, coming up with three unique concepts and watched them being built into reality.
Our local cruise nite brings in 500-700 cars if the weather was good. With thousands of attendees each week for the next 20 years, Rich and Barb spoke everyone that had a question or wanted to talk cars. Always the classy couple, they were always warm and welcoming not leaving until the last question was answered.
Rich was a true gentleman in every sense of the word. Was a visionary as he designed and built his Pro-Classic Corvettes. And a great husband who was very proud of this three grand daughters.
Services are scheduled for early next week. I'll post his obituary when it becomes available.
Passing of Rich Lagasse
Dennis
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