CUSTOMIZED and MODIFIED PLAQUES

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Some clubs had their plaques cast with numbers, initials or nicknames. This required some additional work on the pattern by adding foundry letters before the pattern was set into the sand. This was a good way to discourage thieves from stealing the plaques as they were now personalized and could be traced to the original owners.

The Albata dry lakes racing club was first organized in 1937 and took it's name from one of the very oldest racing fraternities that dates to the Coliseum in Rome. They were one of the first clubs to cast plaques with numbers and here are two examples of their plaque.

Albata - Member #9   Albata - Member #11

The Elegants from Gardena, CA also cast their member's number in the plaque. 

Elegants - Gardena - Member # 4   Elegants - Gardena - Member #22   Elegants - Gardena - Member #29

As did the Gear Gamblers from Downey, CA

Gear Gamblers - Member #19     Gear Gamblers - Member #43

The Gear Gamblers also had a special plaque cast for their "Honorary Members".

GearGamblers-HonMem_Downey.jpg (70903 bytes)

Stu Roberts was a founder and the first President of the Southern California Rod Rockers. When they had plaques made, Stu received the plaque with the Number 1 on it. When his term was up, he traded his Number 1 plaque with the new President for the Number 11 plaque. The Number 12 plaque belonged to his brother, Richard Roberts.

Rod Rockers - 1   Rod Rockers - 6   Rod Rockers - 11   Rod Rockers - 12

When the San Francisco Road Tramps had their plaques cast, they added a "pad" on the lower right corner that would be used to add the member's number. Not sure if they were cast in because it looks like some kind of brass colored numbers were used for the two plaques on the right.

Road Tramps   Road Tramps   Road Tramps

The Slowpokes from Peoria, IL added a topper to their plaque for their Honorary Members.

Slowpokes_Peoria.jpg (33009 bytes)     Slowpokes-HonMem_Peoria.jpg (61352 bytes)

The Timers in the San Gabriel Valley of Southern California also had plaques made for Honorary Members.

Timers - SGV   Timers - SGV

The Drag Wagons from Maywood, CA used numbers and names. On this version of their plaques, Maywood was abbreviated to provide enough room on the right side for the member's info. There was also a version with Maywood spelled out and you can view both versions on the Maywood page.

Drag Wagons - Member #40   Drag Wagons - Bob   Drag Wagons - Caffey   DragWagons-Jim_Mywd.jpg (88215 bytes)

Drag Wagons - Larry   Drag Wagons - Ray   DragWagons-Stevo_Mywd.jpg (63536 bytes)   Drag Wagons - Ted

Note how the designs for the Gear Gamblers and Drag Wagons are similar. These clubs were from the same general area east of Los Angeles. There were other clubs from this area who used the same type of design with the letters standing above the plaque. The Downey page has several examples.

Another club that added their member's name to the plaque was the Saints from Scotia, a small town in Northern California. Bill & Herb were members.

Saints - Bill   Saints - Herb

Other clubs just stamped the member's number on the plaque. This Knucklebusters plaque belonged to Charter Member Number 6.

Knucklebusters - 6

The Southern Nevada Street Rod Association had a different idea. They added the year and make of their member's car inside the map of Nevada.

1929 Ford   1931 Ford   SRA-32Ford_SoNev.jpg (59620 bytes)   1934 Ford   1939 Chevy   1940 Ford

Maybe this member of the Pomona Shortimers thought this was a good idea so he added the Ford Deluxe script to his plaque.

Shortimers - Pomona   Shortimers - Ford Deluxe


There have been clubs that folded, then started up again. The new clubs often would put the year the club was originally founded on the plaques. Here are some examples from the Eagle Rock Trompers. What may be the original plaque, then one with 1945 added and another with 1948 added. Not sure which is correct.

Trompers   Trompers (1945)   Trompers (1948)


The Pick-Ups Limited club of Orange County in Southern California was formed in 1968. In 1978 they had special plaques made for their members who belonged to the club for 10 years. When the club was 15 years old, they added a "topper" to the plaque and have continued to acknowledge their long time members in 5 year increments. Their special plaque for 40 year members is on the right. I'm still missing the 30, 35 and 50 year versions, if those were also made.

Pick-Ups Limited   Pick-Ups Limited - 10 Year Member

Pick-Ups Limited - 15 Year Member   Pick-Ups Limited - 20 Year Member   Pick-Ups Limited - 25 Year Member   Pick-Ups Limited - 40 Year Member

In 2004, the Four Ever Four Cylinder club had this special plaque made to celebrate their 50th Anniversary.

Four Ever Four Cylinder - 50th Anniversary

O'Brien Truckers made these special plaques for the 50th Anniversary of the Ty-Rods of Rockville, CT. Below is their original plaque and the chromed aluminum commemorative that also has a polished bronze tie rod end that replicates their logo.

Ty-Rods   Ty-Rods - 50 Years

In 2009, this club from Hamilton, New Zealand had special 50th Anniversary plaques made to let everyone know their club was established in 1959.

Hamilton Hot Rod Club   Hot Rod Club - 50th Anniversary

This long time Los Angeles car club had special plaques made for their 50th Anniversary in 2012. The Dukes have evolved into a well known and respected lowrider club. In 2020 I received the 60th Anniversary plaque photo but the dates don't correspond with the 50th plaque. Maybe these were two different clubs.

Dukes of LA - 1962 - 2012   Dukes - 60th Anniversary

In 1998, the Franklin Syndicate Auto Club from Stockton, CA had special plaques made to commemorate their 50th Anniversary.

FranklinSyndicate_Stockton.jpg (57312 bytes)      Franklin Syndicate - 1948 - 1998     

The Stick Shifts from Jamaica Plain, MA had these cast toppers made up for their 40th Anniversary.

Stick Shifts - 40 Years

In 1986, the Mid-Century Mercury Car Club had special plaques cast to celebrate their 10th Anniversary.

Mid-Century Mercury Car Club   Mid-Century Mercury Car Club - 10th Anniversary

This club from Koolsville had special plaques cast to let everyone know they've been around for 20 years.

Beatniks-20Years.jpg (65401 bytes)

The Prowlers of San Diego, CA had a special topper made in 2017 to let everyone know they have been around for 70 years. Club historian Andy Bekech says he has the minutes from their club meetings all the way back to 1948. He mentionded that in those early years, their club plaques were called "Bumper Plates". I don't remember ever hearing them called that.

Prowlers     Prowlers-1947-2017.jpg (65125 bytes)

The Wilmington Road Kings had a reunion of old club members in 1985 and had special plaques cast to commemorate their event.

Road Kings - Wilmington     Road Kings Reunion - 1985


This Rollin Wheels AC "plaque" was photographed by Dean Court at the Redwood Empire Early Ford V-8 Club's 36th Annual Swap Meet in Petaluma, CA. It looks like someone took an aluminum plaque and glued on the emblem from their jacket. The plaque was displayed on the front of a track nosed T Roadster and Dean said "It looked like an embroidered emblem that may have been shellacked; it was hard but rough to the feel".

Rollin Wheels AC


The plaque below is for the High Desert Roadsters in Victorville, CA and Norm Jones said everyone in this club was "President".

High Desert Roadsters

Someone took the time to make their High Desert Roadsters plaque unique by trimming the edges off the plaque on the left. The owner of the plaque on the right went one step further by removing "President".  

High Desert Roadsters President

High Desert Roadsters

The Street Angels of Santa Rosa, CA had a special plaque made for their President.

Street Angels   Street Angels President - Santa Rosa

Lehigh Valley's Wheels of Time club added Senior Member to their plaques for long standing members.

Wheels Of Time   Wheels Of Time - Senior Member


Dennis O'Brien (O'Brien Truckers) has the original pattern for the Port Arthur, TX Highway Prowlers plaque shown below on the left. When Beverly Craine wrote about the plaque she found in a Galveston, TX thrift store, she wanted to know if we had any info about who, or where, "OV" was. She said it looked like something else had been across the bottom at one time but it had the Chicago Metal Craft stamp on the reverse side. Probably another unsolved mystery.

Highway Prowlers - Port Arthur, TX   Highway Prowlers - OV


Here are some examples of plaques that were probably modified by their owners. The plaque on the right has been trimmed down for some reason. Maybe the plaque was dropped and a corner was broken or maybe the owner just wanted to be different.

Happy Daze   Happy Daze

The owners of the Bacardi Boys, American Streetrodders and Rif Raf plaques also modified their plaques by removing some of the extra metal.

Bacardi Boys                     BacardiBoys.jpg (96054 bytes)

American Streetrodders    AmericanStreetrodders_SoCal.jpg (80688 bytes)

Rif Raf - Oak Ridge   Rif Raf - Oak Ridge

A member of the Outlaws Rod & Drag club in England had the same idea and trimmed off the excess aluminum to make a smaller plaque.

The Outlaws Ros and Drag Club   The Outlaws Rod and Drag Club

The owner of this plaque on the right ground off Tulsa and added NSRA with what may be stick-on letters.

Roadents - Tulsa   Roadents - NSRA

Here is another example of a plaque that was modified. Someone removed SCTA from the plaque on the right and added RTA. If you look closely at the RTA example, you can still see where SCTA had been.

Autocrats - LA (SCTA)   Autocrats - LA (RTA)

There are numerous examples of plaques with and without locations on them. It's unknown if the owners of these plaques removed the location for some unknown reason or if there were actually two different versions made for these clubs.

South Side Axle Draggers   Axle Draggers

Foothill Flyers - Oakdale   Foothill Flyers

Sticks - San Francisco   Sticks

Here someone took a what looks like a "Stock" Wild Cats plaque and added SCTA and CALIF to it. It appears that the letters were cast into the plaque but the "club" probably never existed. These stock plaques were sold from catalogs and could be ordered by mail or through a local speed shop. Click Here to read more about Stock Plaques.

Wild Cats   Wild Cats - SCTA

Here is another example of someone who took a "Stock" plaque and added Moose Jaw to it. It looks like the city name may have been taken from something like a license plate frame.

Pace Makers   Pace Makers - Moose Jaw

The plaque for the West Side Auto Club on the right had a spark plug added, or was it removed from the plaque on the left? Which was first?

WestSideAC_None.jpg (35928 bytes)   West Side Auto Club

What do you do after you quit the Road Knights? You remove the S from your plaque and become a Road Knight.

Road Knights   Road Knight

Someone who may have been a member of the Obsoletes in Downey removed the club's name from the top of their plaque.

Obsoletes - Downey   Downey (Obsoletes)


Jus' Another Car Club from Puyallup, WA had some small castings made that can be attached to their plaques to indicate that the owner is a charter member of this club.

Jus' Another Car Club   Jus' Another Car Club - Charter Member


Did the Lakesters from Fairmont, MN drop out of the NHRA and have new plaques cast with MINN?

Lakesters - Fairmont   Lakesters - Minn


The person from Janesville, WI that owned this stock plaque for the Road Knights painted the location on with reflective paint.

Road Knights   Road Knights - Janesville, WI

I'm guessing the person who had this "Pharoahs" plaque also did the same thing by painting SLC on it. There were several clubs that misspelled Pharaohs.

Pharoahs_None.jpg (35934 bytes)   Pharoahs - SLC


The Auto Butchers were a well known custom car club in the East Los Angeles area in the early 50's. There are several examples of plaques that have been made for this club but it's unknown which is the original one. Someone took one of these plaques and ground off the bottom of the E and it now says FLA. I'm guessing the car or truck it's on has Florida license plates.

Auto Butchers   Auto Butchers   Auto Butchers   Auto Butchers


On the left below is a (Pontiac) Powered plaque with Pontiac's Indian Head logo. Someone added GMC and V-8 to one of these plaques with crude looking letters. Wonder if their engine was a Pontiac or a GMC truck engine.

Pontiac Powered   GMC Powered


Not sure if this Drag-Ons plaque was modified or if it came this way from the foundry. 

Drag-Ons_None-3.jpg (67710 bytes)

The "wings" on the top of this Century Toppers plaque may have been cast with a part cut from another club's plaque.

CenturyToppers_WingsOnTop.jpg (76836 bytes)

It looks like someone took this Gearlords plaque on the left and removed Longview and Kelso from it and added a part of a gear where the city names were.

Gearlords - Longview Kelso     Gearlords



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