It started with cars. As a little boy, Peter Granata fell in love with cars. Fast cars, sleek cars, cool cars. By age nine, he started a youthful career by helping out down at the corner tire store in Chicago’s Little Italy. Each Saturday, he earned the money to race down to the dime store and buy a model car.

After homework was done, he built model cars and taught himself to draw. He reproduced the pictures in magazine and then tried different ideas. The lines and styling were what caught his eye. His father also got him model boats that he floated in a backyard inflatable pool. He loved the idea of ships, but cars remained his first love. By age 21, he had dreamed up a vehicle seat memory device which he patented. Unusual in one so young, but Granata is that extremely rare combination of dreamer and doer.