After 56 years of serving performance enthusiasts, Crane Cams has closed its doors amid hard economic times.
You can well imagine the shock for all of us in the car magazine business. Crane Cams has closed its doors. Those words sent chills down our spines. Seems everyone in the industry read the same Jim Witters article from the Daytona, Florida-based News-Journal. Word is out all over the place.
We don't have all the details, but here's what we do know. Termination of business didn't happen without some effort to keep Crane Cams open. As we understand it, Volusia County, Florida's economic development people had been working with Crane Cams to help keep them open and 220 people in their jobs. Efforts to keep Crane Cams going were unsuccessful.
Crane Cams was founded by Harvey J. Crane, Jr. in 1953 in Hallendale, Florida - right in there with other legendary camshaft grinders of the post-war era like Isky, Erson, Clay Smith, Crower - and in more recent decades, our friends at Comp Cams. For many years, Crane Cams was family owned, then, became employee owned in 1979. According to Harvey Crane's own website, the company he founded fired him in 1989. He has his own camshaft consulting business and is 77 these days.
Crane Cams was acquired by Mikronite Technologies in 2006.
Mikronite Technologies had received approval to get tax rebates from the State of Florida and Volusia County as incentive to move its operations there from New Jersey. Mikronite terminated discussions with the State of Florida last year due to nonperformance.
In 2007, Mikronite sold Crane Cams' Daytona Beach property to STAG Capital Partners in Boston, then, signed a 10-year lease. It is unclear what the tipping point for Crane Cams was, but it is clear they are out of business.
There's probably a lot you didn't know about Crane Cams. We're going to share some of its history with you now. Harvey Crane was born in Hallandale, Florida on August 17, 1931. He was the son of an accomplished machinist and fabricator. He ground his first camshaft at the age of 15 in 1946 under the close supervision of Bud Swanson in Ojus, Florida. He followed in his father's footsteps, becoming employed as a racing engine and chassis builder after in 1948. He formed Crane Cams in 1953 and started grinding cams on a Storm Vulcan Cam Grinder in August of that year. He has left a deep, positive mark on the industry we've all grown up with. He was elected to the Society of Automotive Engineers in 1958. He incorporated his company in 1963.
He was issued a patent in 1963 for a roller tappet design. In 1965, he published the first "duration at .050"" numbers. In 1967, he did his first computer cam design on a time share computer using a teletype via the phone lines. In 1968, he purchased a numerically-controlled camshaft grinder with ten millionth of a inch resolution for manufacturing camshaft masters. Was intimately involved with development of the Berco camshaft grinder, purchasing its first machine in 1972. Acquired Universal Camshaft Machine Company in Michigan in 1974 - the first ever manufacturer of steel billet roller camshafts.
In 1988, the Society of Automotive Engineers elected Harvey Crane a Fellow.
In January of 1990, Harvey Crane formed Crane CamDesign.
In 2001, the words Harvey Crane became a registered trademark.
No Harvey Crane story would be complete without mentioning his late-wife, Maxine, who joined the company in 1964 as a clerk typist. She became Crane's Executive Assistant in 1970. They were married in 1973. Harvey Crane says Maxine was the glue that held Crane together for many years. Maxine passed in 2007.
Our contact at Crane Cams was Chase Knight, a wonderfully terrific guy who has held our hands through a lot of engine builds in Mustang Monthly's 30-year history. Chase knows Fords. And Chase surely knows engines. Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone at Crane Cams. This morning, we all have large lumps in our throats because this is a huge loss for the industry. We're not only talking business associates, but friends who have become family through the years.
Regardless of what path Crane Cams has traveled in its 56 years, it can be safely said Harvey Crane has pioneered a lot of elements in the performance camshaft business we take for granted today. The loss of the company he founded more than a half century ago cannot be measured.