Hey, VBob . . . That’s a great photo, but I forgot to tell you. Rockville’s own Brian Frederick lettered the car, which was painted with DuPont Imron. The left side was lettered Roberts & Ruggiero and the right side read Ruggiero & Roberts. The car was actually called “The Phantom II,” as Jim Roberts’ family owned a large apple orchard in Cumberland, Rhode Island, called The Phantom Farm. Just a little Ruggiero & Roberts trivia for ‘ya. Art Ruggiero was also a member of the Ty-Rods Auto Club of Rockville.
Funny…Knew Brian well ..”Brother of the Brush”…last saw him doing all the Display work at Riverside Park in Agawam, Mass., when I was into open Wheel modifieds …80’s .This Forum has a way of shrinking our world .
From today’s Daytona Beach News Journal Online . . .
Crane Cams shuts down, workers laid off
By JIM WITTERS
Senior Business Writer
DAYTONA BEACH — Crane Cams, a 56-year-old auto parts manufacturer, closed its doors this week and laid off its employees, a worker said today… Capital Partners of Boston, then signed a 10-year lease.
I copied and pasted this article to a friend from here in Miami named Dick Besola who was good friends with Harvey Crane and the Crane Cam people when they wre here in Miami. The old Crane Engineering shop was torn down about three years ago for a new complex of buildings for the local school system.
Here is Dick’s responce to the article:
strange story,
dave smith and butch stratman started running crane cams in the 60’s, then, harvey started selling out the business to his employees.
ironically, harvey crane had called me a few months ago regarding something from the 60’s. he sounded sharp as a whip and remembered everything from the past.
also, my motorcycle racing buddy, denny haven, is now in touch and he also raced with harvey. he was an 18 time national champion motorcycle racer over 30 years of bike racing.
several other bud’s from the 60’s have also recently contacted me, time must be getting shorter…????
send some more trivia~!~!~
regards,
I heard yesterday they are going to reopen(Crane Cams) in as little as a month.
That would be a good thing. I just hope your source is reliable. I’ve heard several stories from “Industry Insiders,” about what caused the meltdown and why the doors were padlocked, but I don’t know them to be true so there’s no point in posting potential garbage. The Internet is loaded with unreasearched, unregulated, untrue rehtoric already, and unfortunately, most people believe it just becuse they see it in print. I’ll be the first to cheer if Crane and its people get back to business.
Thanks for the link, Anthony. That’s an interesting report. I can only wonder why the announcement didn’t come from the head guy at Mikronite — Lance (can’t remember his last name), who ran Crane. Then again, maybe he’s . . .
dino.
randy-fish