Gerald "Jerry" Magnuson

August 8, 1939 - March 1, 2015 Longtime Ventura County resident Gerald "Jerry" Magnuson, 75, passed away surrounded by family on Sunday, March 1. Born in the Swedish community of Eaton, Colorado, he was raised on a farm, along with his sister, Sharon. There he began his life-long passion for building dragsters, helping his dad build their first dragster in the barn and Jerry began racing at Bandimere Raceway. In mid sixties he struck out for Santa Ana, taking a position with Dan Gurney's All-American Racers. He traveled with the race teams and crewed at the Indy 500. He soon struck out on his own and began designing his own superchargers. He was passionate about speed. For over 40 years Jerry's company Magnuson Products created and built superchargers for a worldwide market, from tanks to motorcycles to street rods and luxury automobiles. During that time he also fabricated show hot rods and with his wife, Maureen, traveled the world for competitions and car shows. In 2010, his 1932 Ford street rod "Magnatude" swept the awards for America's Most Beautiful Street Rod. Other awards include the Grand National Roadster Show, Good Guys, Fresno Autorama, Cayucos Car Show, the Sweden's Bilsport, and the SEMA General Motors Design Award. His interests also included miniature ship building and he was the first president of the Model Ship Modelers Association of Southern California, designing and manufacturing miniature tools for modelers. He was responsible for the extensive Marple Miniature Ship Collection being secured by the Ventura County Maritime Museum. Jerry was an entrepreneur, visionary, talented designer, fabricator, and a true hot rodder through and through. He is survived by his wife and business partner Maureen, sister Sharon, children David, Brian, Wendy, Alice, seven grandchildren, and a great-grandchild as well as his many friends and hot rodders around the globe. Services pending. In lieu of flowers to please make donations to Cancer Society and City of Hope.