Harry Westergard

Harry Westergard with his wife Ruth

A Need for Speed! In this 1939 clipping from The Sacramento Bee (Issue No. 20, October 20, 1939), 23-year-old Harry William Westergard of 3613 Sixth Avenue was fined $15 for speeding at 37 miles per hour on Franklin Boulevard, and another $5 for not having his operator’s license in his possession. Even before becoming a pioneer in custom car history, Harry was already making a name for himself on Sacramento’s streets.

Westergard Enlists. This announcement from The Sacramento Union (July 28, 1945) reveals that Harry W. Westergard, owner of the Westergard Body Shop, had left for Navy boot camp in San Diego on July 18. At the time, he lived at 1522 X Street with his wife Ruth and their two sons, Harold and Albert. The notice also notes that Westergard attended Grant Union High School before starting his own business, a testament to how early he pursued his passion for working on cars.

A photo of Butler Rugard, Norm Milne and Harry in front of Harry's house. All three were Thunderbolts members, and the photo comes from the scrapbook of Norm Milne. Photo courtesy of Jeff Faeber.

Norm Milne's 1931 Ford Roadster

Gene Garret's 1936 Ford

Jack Odbert's 1936 Ford Roadster

Vern Simon's 1936 Ford Roadster

Leroy Semas' 1937 Chevrolet Coupe

John Sal Cocciola's 1938 Chevrolet Convertible

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Norm Milne's 1938 Ford convertible sedan of Sacramento, California. About 1940 Norm drove the Ford to Los Angeles to have Carson Top Shop chop the top and make a padded top. The rest of the car was restyled by Harry Westergard.

George Barris' 1936 Ford Coupe of Roseville, California. This was George's first real custom. He bought the car from money he had earned while doing some odd jobs for Harry Westergard at Brown's Body Shop. George worked at the car between the staggering amount of school work, and working with Westergard. The build was completed in 1941.

Mel Falconer's 1939 Ford, of Sacramento, California was restyled by Harry Westergard and completed in 1945.

Harold Ohanesian's 1940 Mercury Convertible Sedan was restyled by Harry Westergard and Less Crane sometime between 1945 and 1949.

Butler Rugard's 1940 Mercury

Al Lauer's 1941 Cadillac Convertible

Butler Rugard's 1947 Chevrolet

A photo of Jerry Fassett's 1947 Chevrolet Convertible taken in Harry Westergard's backyard. This photo was taken after Harry had installed the Jimmy Summers fender extension, and the back of the photo reads: "Here is a picture of the latest addition to the "Hot Rod" 47.Chev." Photo from The Jerry Fassett Collection.

Jerry Fassett's 1947 Chevrolet

Fast on the Track Too! This Sacramento Bee clipping from September 22, 1947, shows that Westergard wasn't just a custom car pioneer, he also had a competitive streak behind the wheel. Racing at the Lazy J Speedway, Harry tied for second place in the 25-lap roadster feature alongside Wayne Seltzer of Sacramento, finishing just behind Paul Schultz of Santa Cruz. It’s another reminder that Westergard lived and breathed speed, on and off the street.

The Final Ride: This front-page article from The Sacramento Union, dated April 30, 1956, reports the tragic death of custom car pioneer Harry W. Westergard. Driving his 1955 Ford Thunderbird, Westergard lost control at an estimated 100 miles per hour on Freeport Boulevard, crashing into a tree just north of Florin Road. The impact was so severe that the car “literally disintegrated.” At the time of his death, Harry was employed at Bertolucci's Body & Paint Shop, and was remembered as one of Sacramento’s top custom craftsmen. He was 40 years old and left behind three sons, a legacy of craftsmanship, and a community that deeply mourned his loss.

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Harry William Westergard (Jan. 9, 1916 - Apr.29, 1956) of Sacramento, California is a pioneer in the world of custom cars. Harry was born on January 9, 1916 in Detroit, Michigan to Adolf William Westergard and Johnsina Emelle Nielsen. Both of Harry's parents were immigrants from Denmark.^[1] In the late twenties or early thirties Harry moved from Michigan to Sacramento.

Jack Stack's Flying A Gas Station

Harry started building cars in the late 1930's. He did not have a shop, so he did all of his work in his garage at home on Fulton Avenue. Harry used to hang out at Jack Stack's Flying A gas station at the corner of 18th and L streets, near the State Capitol Building. He ran a stripped down and modified 1929 or 1930 Ford Model A roadster^[2] that he thought was pretty fast, but so did some other young guys, like Norm Milne and Dick Bertolucci. Street racing was all these young bucks could do, as there were no facilities for organized competitions. They raced after dark, usually just a block or two ahead of the local police.

George Barris

Around 1940 - 1941 Harry worked at Brown's Body Shop in Roseville. At the time, a little kid name George Barris began to hang out at the shop, watching the workers repair cars. While hanging out at Brown's Body Shop, George found a mentor and information resource in Harry. George began helping Harry whenever time would permit. George carefully followed the instructions of his new friend who eventually taught him such necessary formalities as layout and paneling. Doing these odd jobs at Westergard's shop brought in a little extra money. With the money George bought a 1936 Ford Coupe, the first car in which he had sole interest.

US Navy and the Westergard Body Shop

The war years brought a pause to the nightly meetups at Jack's Flying A station, and Sacramento’s custom scene quieted down. By July of 1945, Harry was running his own business, the Westergard Body Shop, in Sacramento. According to a newspaper announcement published that month, Harry left for training at Navy boot camp in San Diego on July 18, joining the service as World War II came to a close. At the time, he was married to Ruth Westergard, and they had two sons, Harold and Albert, living at 1522 X Street. The same article noted that Harry had previously attended Grant Union High School before going into business independently.^[3] He served in the U.S. Navy from 1945 to 1946, pausing his custom car work to serve his country.^[1]

Capitol Auto Club

But by the summer of 1945, things had begun stirring again, and that year, Norm Milne proposed forming a club to help legitimize their hot rod activities and shake off the outlaw image. The first meeting of the newly formed Capitol Auto Club took place in Harry Westergard’s chicken coop shop on Fulton Avenue in September 1945. That group would later evolve into the Thunderbolts Car Club, one of the most legendary early car clubs on the West Coast.^[1]

The Final Ride

In 1955 Harry bought himself a brand new 1955 Ford Thunderbird. After losing a street race against two cops in a brand new Buick, he decided to hop the car up, so he ordered an Iskendarian cam from Bertolucci's Body and Paint Shop. Harry loved to race, and one late Sunday night April 29, 1956 he raced along the River Road, heading back home to Sacramento from Walnut Grove. A guy pulled out in front of Harry, Harry was going at least 100 miles an hour when he tried to swerve to miss the car. He hit a three at full speed, and died in the crash. The car came off in two parts, split on the middle.

At the time he died, Harry had been divorced from his wife, and he was really broken up. He quit doing metalwork and started to work for a muffler shop instead. When Dick Bertolucci heard this he went straight over to Harry and told him that he was wasting his talent. Dick offered Harry twice as much as he was earning in the muffler shop if he would begin working for Dick instead. Harry accepted, and when he died he had been working for Dick Bertolucci at Bertolucci's Body and Paint Shop for 6 months.

Harry was buried at the City Cemetery in Sacramento. Thousands of cars attended Harry's funeral. In an interview with Garage Magazine, Dick Bertolucci told that the day after Harry died, he called Iskendarian to cancel that cam order for Harry's Thunderbird.