The Strokers of Saginaw Photo Collection

A Strokers club shot taken at an indoor car show. When Al and his buddies formed the Strokers in March of 1955, everyone wanted to be in a car club, so the little club grew quickly, having new members join them on a weekly basis. Photo courtesy of the Strokers of Saginaw, provided by Jonathan Russell.

An early iteration of Ed Kartz's 1951 Ford custom. This car would later be turned into The Kartz’s Khrome Kart. Photo courtesy of Ed Kartz, provided by Jonathan Russell.

This channeled 1934 Ford Tudor Sedan belonged to Dave Alcorn. Dave was a Strokers until he passed away in 2015. Photo courtesy of Ed Kartz, provided by Jonathan Russell.

According to Al Benaway, it wasn't much going on in Michigan back in the mid-1950s. Al was a single car fanatic that was just out of high school. Back then, you would usually find him in his garage, working on his car until three or four in the morning. He went to the Detroit Dragway once, but he recalled it wasn't much of a dragstrip. Photo courtesy of Ed Kartz, provided by Jonathan Russell.

Part of a national movement, the Strokers was one of the original NHRA charter clubs. There were no drag strips in the area when Al and his buddies formed the club. "Nobody even knew what we were talking about," Al told Kustomrama. Photo courtesy of the Strokers of Saginaw, provided by Jonathan Russell.

The Strokers decided to form the Saginaw Valley Timing Association to join forces with the other clubs in the area. Photo courtesy of the Strokers of Saginaw, provided by Jonathan Russell.

Bob George was a local auto racing promoter that the Strokers knew. Bob got hold of a fellow up in Edmore, Michigan that owned the Central Michigan Airport. "He let us use his airport, and that's when we started drag racing," Al Benaway told Kustomrama. The year was 1957, and Al recalled that the airport consisted of sand and grass. "The first time I drag raced up there, I had the Model A Coupe with the flathead in it. I was drag racing in the dirt," he chuckled. Sunday, July 7, 1957, 2,117 spectators came to watch the first supervised Drag Strip race in Central Michigan make it into the history books. Al became the area’s top winner in Class C. Later on, he also raced a channeled '34 two-door sedan that he lost the grille on while racing, as the pointed 34 grille kept digging down into the sand. Photo courtesy of the Strokers of Saginaw, provided by Jonathan Russell.

Members of the Strokers having a meeting about the construction of a drag strip in July of 1957. Local auto racing promoter Bob George told the newspaper that if there was enough interest shown in their second race, held July 28, 1957, the airstrip track would be paved. Bob estimated that it would cost $36,000 to pave the Edmore track. Photo courtesy of the Strokers of Saginaw, provided by Jonathan Russell.

Photo courtesy of the Strokers of Saginaw, provided by Jonathan Russell.

Competiton Coupe. A grey primered iteration of Al Benaway's 1930 Ford Model A Coupe displayed at an indoor car show. Al bought the Coupe around 1956-57, and he would change it three times on his quest for higher speeds. "That car was originally chopped and channeled with a '32 frame and a Flathead," Al told Kustomrama, "that's how it started out." As the drag race fever swept over the state, Al decided to take his coupe apart and turn it into a drag car. A competition coupe. Off went the body, and out went the old Flathead engine. The body was then unchanneled before Al installed a 283 cubic inch Chevy engine between the deuce rails. The engine had been stroked to 301 cubic inches, and it ran a 1939 Ford transmission and rear end. Fed by six Stromberg carburetors, the engine was set back for better weight distribution. Photo courtesy of the Strokers of Saginaw, provided by Jonathan Russell.

Another photo of Al's Coupe from the same indoor car show. Photo courtesy of the Strokers of Saginaw, provided by Jonathan Russell.

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After racing and showing the coupe in a grey primer, Jay Miller, who had helped Al chop the top, gave the car a beautiful paint job. According to Al, everybody in the area knew Jay. "It was a really good body shop, he did some beautiful paint jobs, and when the car was painted up it looked like a mirror." Al decided to display the car in some shows, and in 1958 it won best paint at the Detroit Autorama. Photo courtesy of the Strokers of Saginaw, provided by Jonathan Russell.

Photo courtesy of the Strokers of Saginaw, provided by Jonathan Russell.

Photo courtesy of the Strokers of Saginaw, provided by Jonathan Russell.

This 1958 Chevrolet Corvette belonged to Strokers member Jack Pape. Pape was the Show Chairman of the Saginaw Valley Timing Association shows. Photo courtesy of Jack Pape, provided by Jonathan Russell.

A photo of Alden Calkins' 1930 Ford Model A Roadster taken at an indoor car show. We believe the photo might have been taken at the 1959 Automagic Rod & Custom Show that was presented by the Saginaw Valley Timing Association. Held in Bay City, the first show was held in 1959, and the club promoted it as the biggest show ever in Northern Michigan. Photo courtesy of Jack Pape, provided by Jonathan Russell.

The Burgundy Duke! Here's a mild 1957 Chevrolet Convertible custom that belonged to two brothers that ran a Flaming Pistons of Chesaning, Michigan plaque. We believe this picture might have been taken at the 1959 Automagic Rod & Custom Show as well. Photo courtesy of Jack Pape, provided by Jonathan Russell.

A photo of Dave Jenkins' 1957 Chevrolet Bel-Air taken at an indoor car show, probably the 1959 Automagic Rod & Custom Show. Photo courtesy of Jack Pape, provided by Jonathan Russell.

A chopped and channeled Ford Model A roadster. The name of the owner is unknown, but we believe the photo was taken at the 1959 Automagic Rod & Custom Show. Photo courtesy of Jack Pape, provided by Jonathan Russell.

A photo of The Little Squirt appeared in print in Custom Cars June 1960. The photo was taken at the Fort Wayne Rod and Custom Show in 1959, where Al was awarded first place in the large Competition Rod class. Photo courtesy of the Strokers of Saginaw, provided by Jonathan Russell.

A photo of Al's Coupe taken at the Fort Wayne Rod & Custom Show in December of 1960. By then, the Chevrolet engine had been retired and replaced with a blown Hemi. Notice the rolled and pleated roof inset. Today, this photo is proudly displayed in the Strokers clubhouse. Photo courtesy of the Strokers of Saginaw, provided by Jonathan Russell.

Another photo of Al's Little Squirt taken after he had installed the blown Hemi. Photo courtesy of the Strokers of Saginaw, provided by Jonathan Russell.

By 1963, Ed Kartz's 1951 Ford custom was known and shown as The Kartz’s Khrome Kart. It ran a 1957 Chevrolet Corvette motor with an Offenhauser 6 carburetor intake with Stromberg 97s with a 3-speed stick shift. Every piece on the motor was chromed by Saginaw Plating. The brake drums, wheels, and various other parts were also chromed, and according to a 1963 newspaper clipping, it ran enough chromed parts to be called "chrome from top to bottom." Photo courtesy of Ed Kartz, provided by Jonathan Russell.

Ron Ellis did the black and white interior in the Kartz’s Khrome Kart. According to Jonathan Russell, 12 sewing machines sacrificed themselves for the interior. At large shows, the Khrome Kart was shown with Jim Hooper's Wild One. Photo courtesy of Ed Kartz, provided by Jonathan Russell.

Jim and Adrienne Hooper's 1956 Mercury featured a radical paint job by Jerry "Spider the Crazy Painter" Drake of Lansing, Michigan. The inspiration for the paint job came from Jerry DeVito's 1957 Ford Fairlane, a well-known San Jose custom known as the Maze. The same car that also inspired the Kustomrama Dream Truck. According to an old newspaper clipping, the Wild One was a dream car that had won more than 100 trophies in competition. Photo courtesy of Ed Kartz, provided by Jonathan Russell.

Hugh and Larry Smith's 1934 Ford 3-Window Coupe. The car was unfortunately lost in a wreck at Central Michigan Dragway. In 2021, Hugh had deceased, but Larry and his son Mike were still active members of the Strokers. Photo courtesy of Ed Kartz, provided by Jonathan Russell.

The Strokers Auto Revue! Back in the day, Al and the rest of the guys in the club put on indoor and outdoor car shows. There was a fair in Saginaw, so to make some money, the Strokers rented a big tent that they put cars on display in. "We would rent cars from what they called Promotions Incorporated like the Beatnik Bandit and the Batmobile. We made a lot of money on that one. We would get those cars. They came out of Detroit. We brought them up here, and we had to display them for three or four days." Photo courtesy of the Strokers of Saginaw, provided by Jonathan Russell.

A photo of Al with The Little Squirt taken at Ubly Dragway, up in the thumb of Michigan. He sold the coupe to a fellow in a town nearby. "I tried to buy it back a couple of times, but he didn't want to sell it. He's a car collector, so he's got a bunch of cars out there." Photo courtesy of the Strokers of Saginaw, provided by Jonathan Russell.

Hot Rod Detroit

Saginaw is a Mid-Michigan town located 2,400 miles north-east of California, the hot rod capital of the world. In the 1950s, Michiganders saw what their California brothers were up to, and they started copying some of the West Coast hot rod styles and trends while pioneering their own distinctive look. More than fifty hot rod and custom car clubs popped up in Detroit and surrounding areas in the early 1950s. Detroit hot rodders wanted to drag race, but they didn't have the luxury of abandoned airfields that the west coast had, so they decided to form the Michigan Hot Rod Association in 1951 and host an indoor car show to finance the build of a drag strip. That show became the Detroit Autorama, one of the longest-running hot rod and custom car shows in the world.

According to Al Benaway, it wasn't much going on in Michigan back in the mid-1950s. Al was a single car fanatic that was just out of high school. Back then, you would usually find him in his garage, working on his car until three or four in the morning. He went to the Detroit Dragway once, but he recalled it wasn't much of a dragstrip.

Hot Rod Hooligans

Saginaw is located 100 miles north of Detroit, and early in 2021 Al told Sondre Kvipt of Kustomrama that in 1955 when he started out, you couldn't say the word, Hot Rod, out loud in the public. "Hot Rod was a bad word to say. A mortal sin. That was like you were a mugger. You were a bad guy. Bound for jail." There were about 10 or 12 small clubs in the area when Al and his high school buddies formed the Strokers car club in March of 1955. "They didn't last long," he recalled, "but they were there." Al and his buddies were in the senior civics class when they started the club. The Strokers grew to become a large club, and for a while, they had new guys joining on a weekly basis. "When you come to start high school, everybody wants to be in your club. Everybody had a car club, and we had about eight or nine clubs in high school." The Strokers had meetings in a chicken coop. "That was a little rough, but that's what we had. We had a two-car garage with a chicken coop on the back of it."

The Little Squirt

Al had about two or three cars when they started the club. He had a buddy who had a '32 coupe, and the two of them used to go driving around on the streets at night. Al and the charter members of the Stroker graduated in 1955. Around 1956-57 he bought a 1930 Ford Model A Coupe. The car he would build into the Little Squirt. Al would change his little coupe three times on his quest for higher speeds. "That car was originally chopped and channeled with a '32 frame and a Flathead," Al told Kustomrama, "that's how it started out." He drove it on the street, and Jay Miller, a guy at a body shop, helped him chop the top. "I could put my arm on the roof. That's how low it was," he recalled.