I found out last night that Ken Crawford of Kenz Muffler and and Bill Burke belly tanker fame passed away earlier this week. He was preceded by his lovely wife Betty. I had the opportunity to meet him on several occasions, and he was always cordial, jovial, and very much seemed to enjoy telling stories and sharing his knowledge. Rest in peace my friend
So sorry to hear that, he was a great guy, and a wealth of knowledge. He had some great stories, and his magnificent photography to go along with it. R.I.P. old friend. https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/ken-crawford
R.I.P. Mate! I have known Ken for the past 10-11 years. Ken initially contacted me, he was amazed an Aussie knew who he was and that I knew of his roady from the 1940s we struck up a friendship, we only met in person once at Pebble Beach in 2010 but talked and hung out like ol' pals. Since then we have stayed in contact, in recent years mainly on FB. I am going to miss our interactions. I am glad Ken received the much deserved recognition for his contribution to Hot Rodding and as a member of the greatest generation I thank him for his U.S Navy service in the Pacific during WW2. My heartfelt condolences to his family and friends
Ken's muffler shop in Oxnard, I believe. Notice how tidy the place is ? Just like everything he touched.
Another thing about Ken, he raced Go Karts. He told me his house was only a couple blocks from his muffler shop, he drove the Kart home for lunch, from time to time. When pulling onto his driveway slab, he would hit the throttle, and spin a 180, so the Kart would headed the right direction, to return to work. One day, he spun it around, almost running into the grille of a local Police car. The Cop just laughed ! He was full of stories like that.
I can't imagine the fun that must have been, stopping a direct drive twin kart with the brakes they had back then.
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