Folks Of Interest RIP Bruce Crower

Just read this on Facebook befor shutting down for the night.
A real part of automotive history has passed into the ages..
RIP Bruce Crower
Prayers for the Crower Family

 

A highly creative mind, he was involved in the development of so much more than just cams and valvetrains. Godspeed Bruce.

 

Condolences to the Crower Family and Friends on the passing of Bruce...yes, one of those names that resonate through the Culture for sure...may he rest in peace.



Credit to Videographer, Owner

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He was one of the most brilliant men I have ever had the pleasure knowing. Sometimes I felt like sitting next to him and catching the intelligence that dripped off him. Just his wasted thoughts could have tripled my abilities easily. Rest in peace Bruce and thanks for the time I was pleased to spend with you.

 

Bruce was due to be inducted into the SEMA Hall of Fame next week. In my opinion, this should have happened twenty years ago. Bruce was a friend and mentor as well as a client. He was truly an innovator as well as a real great guy.

 

That’s too bad he passed before being inducted into the hall of fame. I agree that he should have been there years ago

 

Man more sad news.

Rest in Peace Bruce Crower. A Hall of Fame Member for certain.

 

Very sad to hear, especially hailing from San Diego. Really nice folks.
Condolences to family and friends.
Crower was of the pure genius generation that thought outside the box and this went way beyond cam design, such as LSR stuff. One example is his 6 stroke engine:

https://autoweek.com/article/car-news/inside-bruce-crowers-six-stroke-engine

 

After years in the sevens the Crowerglide clutch put Top Fuel dragsters into the six second zone. Truly a groundbreaking invention. My condolences to his family.

 

When you talk about innovators Bruce ranks with Smokey

 

How sad, one of my biggest inspirations as a young hot rodder in my teens. I recall reading about him frequently in Hot Rod and Car Craft back in the day, and it seems to me even wrote a column for a time in Hot Rod. I was always amazed at the thought level he worked on vs everybody else. My older brother ran Crower injection on his flat bottom boat w/ 427 BBC. He was also a big fan of Bruce.

 

I agree. I looked back at the SEMA inductees since 1969 and to see some who are in when Bruce was not "boggles the mind". SEMA once stood for "Speed Equipment" and it would seem only logical that the first few years would have been meant for more of the pioneers but it was obviously not.
I have never been to one of the "Car Show " extraviganza's now known as SEMA and this furthers my reason to not attend the event tho I can get passes/tickets....

 

...just heard that the company is now for sale..... won't be long before the name is gone...

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R.I.P. Great guy , he will be missed, knew him a little, used a lot of his products through the years.

 

sincere sympathy goes out to his Family, friends and fans

 

I was working at M&M Speed in Sacramento which was a part of United Speed Warehouse owned by Al Morris which was a Crower distributor during the Jimmy Carter "gas crisis" this was probably the weirdest thing to come out of Crower "back in the day" https://www.yellowbullet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2242994 I think we only sold one of them as I remember. Our machine shop built a lot of sprint car motors that used a lot of Crower's innovations the quality was always top notch.

 

Bruce Crower
March 31, 1930 - July 17, 2019​

 

I first met Bruce Crower at Bonneville Speed Week in 1989 ... wrenching on his Straight-8 Nash powered Modified Roadster:

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A wonderfully innovative & talented gentleman ... a great loss to our hobby

My condolences to his family and close friends.

RIP Mr. Crower ...

 

Bruce Crower showed up at Bonneville in 1954 with his '48 Hudson Commodore:

images from the Crower family archives


image by Bob Falzbot ... from the ©AHRF/Tom Sparks Collection

Bruce ditched the inline flathead and traded it for a Chrysler Hemi. He entered the car in Class E Coupe and Sedan and
proceeded to take first in class with a speed of 157.34 mph against “Big” Bill Edwards with his Cad powered machine
with a speed of 151.00 mph. Not done with just a first in class, Bruce went on to set a new class record of 151.91 mph.​

 

Some Bruce Crower "history" ... documenting his many contributions to our hobby and other motorsports:

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If anyone was wondering why Crower would modify the vintage 8-cylinder Nash engine for a Bonneville car, here's a clue . . .

The Nash had 9 main bearings (as opposed to the Ford 8-cylinder that had 3). And it was already an overhead-valve engine.

 

A young Bruce Crower (with flashlight) working on a Flathead:

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A vintage CROWER Racing Cams & Equipment water-slide decal:

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A more recent photo of (former SDRC member) Bruce Crower with an ARDUN OHV converted Flathead:

image from the San Diego Roadster Club (SDRC) Facebook page​

 

This ones for Bruce Crower.

 

Rip Bruce Does anyone remember the early Crower Schnieder partnership?

 

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From what I’ve read, that partnership was short lived ... the “Crower ~ Schneider Engine & Cam” shop opened in 1958 ... but only lasted a few years ... as Dave Schneider started his own business (i.e., “Schneider Engineering”) in 1961.

 

RIP My brother.

 

darn, I only met him a couple times, but was impressed with those moments.
Ran his pushrods in my first full-on engine. Everyone else was " measure it and let us know what you need" called his shop and they said "yeah, we got 'em in stock ready to go"
They worked perfectly...

 

On July 26th 2019, Bruce was officially inducted into the SEMA Hall of Fame:

pencil artwork by Ed @ewt2 Tillrock
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