Henry Middlebrook Crane (June 16, 1874 – January 21, 1956) was an American engineer and pioneer in the automobile industry.

[4] During World War I, he designed and oversaw the production of airplane engines for Wright-Martin which were used by both French and United States warplanes.

[2] While there, he joined the Fraternity of Delta Psi, was secretary and treasurer of the Exeter Club, and was the scribe of The Technology Zoo.

[3] In July 1896, the brothers sailed their El Heirie for the Seawanhaka Challenge Cup at Oyster Bay, New York, with Clinton serving as captain, losing to the Canadian yacht Glencairn.

[12] In September 1896, Crane became an engineer for the American Bell Telephone Company and worked at their experimental lab in Boston, Massachusetts.

[2] He patented an earth conductor or ground wire attachment in June 1897 and a common battery multiple switchboard in September 1897.

[15] Crane began working for the New York branch of Western Electric Company in November 1898, remaining there through May 1906.

[17][20] They were known for using the best available materials for each part of their engines and vehicles, including high-quality bronzes, and Krupp and nickel steel.

[16] Crane's first vehicle had a T-head engine that utilized a driveshaft with a radius rod to control wheel motion.

[3] In 1907, Clinton Crane, then a naval architect, asked his brother's company to create a 200-horsepower engine that weighed less than 2,000 pounds (910 kg) for use in speedboats.

[16] In water, the engine weighed 2,205 pounds (1,000 kg) with oil service, pipes, and reserve gear.

[22] Before putting this new marine engine on its boat, Crane tested the motor and clutch at his shop for three weeks, using a pulley and brake in the place of a propeller.

Factory testing also allowed the brothers to tune Clinton's new motorboat, the Dixie II, for a race in a week.

[22][21] In 1908, the Dixie II set the motorboat speed record of 31.03 knots or 35.74 statute miles, with designer Clinton steering and Crane acting as engineer.

[32] The Hartford Courant reported, "The six-cylinder power plant on which the Crane-Simplex Company has established its reputation for mechanical excellence, is the result of H. M. Crane's engineering genius.

When the merger was completed in 1916, the company was renamed Wright-Martin Aircraft Corporation, and Crane became its vice president and chief engineer.

"[3][5][16] Crane also served on the Liberty Engine Committee, which was created to oversee manufacturing development and to recommend improvements and standardizations.

[2] Crane pushed for "lighter and higher-quality bearings as well as the higher-performance characteristics of magnetos and spark plugs..."[38] At the war's end, Wright-Martin—which had been focused on manufacturing engines for wartime aviation—closed its operations and sold most of its assets.

[16] He continued to work on advances to engines, including "an L-configuration cylinder head with Ricardo-type high-swirl combustion chambers.

Crane not only designed the engine but also "the only car with a short bore and a low-pressure flood system of oiling."

[1] Hemmings notes, "The crowning achievement that Harry Crane made at GM was his convincing Sloan to use this type of high-turbulence, high-quench cylinder head for the original Pontiac Six engine.

"[3] In 1924, Crane told Automobile Trade Journal, "The float carburetor is, to my mind, the greatest single contribution to engineering progress.

[1] In February 1920, he presented a paper on "Possible Effect of Aircraft Engine Development in Automobile Practice" for the national meeting of SAE.

[38][43] The same year, he chaired the SAE Aeronautic Division of the Standards Committee, and helped write the American Air Safety Code for the U.S. Department of Commerce in 1926.

[1][44] In 1920, he also was chairman of the SAE Automobile Lighting Division of the Standards Committee, helping to reduce the glare from car headlights.

[45] In 1923, Crane testified at the United States Senate Hearings on the High Cost of Gasoline and Other Petroleum Products.

He spoke about experiments conducted by the SAE research committee with the United States Bureau of Standards, which aimed "to determine the economically correct grade of fuel to use" to achieve "the greatest mileage per gallon, with other operating conditions being met."