The Swanx Photo Collection

A group of Swanx of Oakland members photographed in 1954. Photo courtesy of the Swanx car club.

A Swanx of Oakland group shot, showing some of the members in their "uniforms", consisting of club jackets and derby hats. Photo courtesy of the Swanx car club.

Two Swanx cars at a checkpoint, during what seems to be a reliability or poker run. Photo courtesy of the Swanx car club.

A photo of founding Swanx of Oakland member Johnny Johnson buying an already customized 1951 Kaiser. Johnny would restyle the Kaiser further, and convert it into a radical custom creation. In the early 1950s Johnny put out a digest sized magazine called The Dipstick. Photo courtesy of the Swanx car club.

A Swanx of Oakland group shot taken at the Los Angeles Motorama in the mid 1950s. All club members wore derby's, except for the President, he wore a top hat. Photo courtesy of the Swanx car club.

Kustomrama Photo Archive

The Swanx of Oakland car club was founded by Ted Lundquist and Johnny Johnson in 1952. You had to own a car to be voted in as a member of the club, and your car had to meet certain standards with the club to have a plaque. Other chapters of the club were Swanx of Vallejo, Swanx of San Rafael and Swanx of San Francisco. In 1998 the Swanx of Vallejo chapter was reformed with the blessing of the original members of the club. Rick Holcomb, Vice President of the Swanx of Vallejo car club has shared some photos from the Swanx archive with Kustomrama that we will publish here.