Bruce Kessler Biography: Bruce Kessler was a car racer. In 1957, he raced for Porsche at LeMans before sustaining a head injury at the 1959 Examiner Grand Prix. Doctors advised the young driver not to race for a year, so the 22-year-old went to Hollywood to work as a technical consultant, assisting movie directors in filming race footage and staging high-speed actions.
Table of Contents
Bruce Kessler Biography
Bruce Kessler Biography: Bruce Kessler was born on March 23, 1936, in Seattle, Washington, US. He was the fashion designer’s son. At sixteen, he began racing his mother’s Jaguar XK120 in Sports Car Club of America competitions in the early 1950s. He raced on the road race courses in California at Paramount Ranch and Willow Springs. In the late 1950s, he was a team driver for Lance Reventlow’s Scarab race cars together with Chuck Daigh.
Bruce Kessler Wiki
| Name | Bruce Kessler |
| Date Of Birth | March 23, 1936 |
| Date of Death | April 4, 2024 (at the age of 88) |
| Birth Place | Seattle, Washington, US |
| Height | N/A |
| Weight | N/A |
| Zodiac Sign | Aries |
| Profession | Racing Driver |
| Net Worth | N/A |
| Car Collection | N/A |
Also Read: Brian Hart Biography, Wiki, Height, Weight, Racing Career & More
Bruce Kessler Racing Career
He attempted to qualify for one World Championship Formula One Grand Prix with a Connaught owned by Bernie Ecclestone. Still, he could not do so despite posting the 21st quickest time out of 28 drivers.
On September 30, 1955, Kessler & Reventlow, driving Reventlow’s Mercedes-Benz SL aluminum coupe, had stopped at Blackwells Corner on CA Rt. 466/133 en route to the Salinas Road Races when James Dean & his mechanic, Rolf Wutherich, drove in with Dean’s Porsche Spyder. They agreed to meet for supper that evening in Paso Robles, approximately 60 miles away. Reventlow and Kessler took off 10 min earlier than everyone else. Dean never made it, as he was involved in a fatal two-car accident 30 miles away on Route 466/41 near Cholame. Kessler is the only living individual who spoke with James Dean before his death.
The Scarabs defeated the famous driver Phil Hill in a Ferrari to win the International Grand Prix in Riverside, California. Kessler was invited to race at Le Mans in Europe. March 22, 1958, while driving a Ferrari 250 GT LWB (#0773GT), Kessler won his division at the “12-hour Florida International Grand Prix of Endurance for the AMOCO Trophy” (12 h Sebring). After a severe accident at the 1959 Examiner Grand Prix in Pomona, California, he was in a coma for several days. Soon after that, he gave up racing.
Bruce Kessler’s Personal Life
According to the source, Bruce Kessler was married to Joan Freeman. It is not known how many kids they had. Alongside that, he had two brothers, poet and writer Stephen Kessler, who currently lives in northern California, and another brother Rick, who currently lives in Palm Springs. Bruce passed away on 4th April 2024 at the age of 88.
