Old Austin: Swearingen-Armstrong Auto Sales, 202 W. 1st St., at Colorado St.

Written by Ken Altes

W.A. Swearingen founded this Ford dealership, later to became Leif Johnson Ford, with Jack Gray, an All American basketball guard at UT, and then UT’s basketball coach (1936-42, 1945-51). Gray changed basketball shooting technique forever by shooting with just one hand, the “push shot.” Multiple window signs say “Ford Leads the Way.” Two pictures show Gray as a player – in 1935, and then as a coach. The first two dealership pictures were taken in 1948, the last one in 1949, showing the classic Ford F1.swearingen-armstrong-auto-sale-colorado-and-202-w-1st-street-1949-aaa      jackgray19342       jackgrayswearingen-armstrong-auto-sale-colorado-and-w-1st-st-1948swearingen-armstrong-auto-sale-colorado-and-202-w-1st-street-1949-aaa-trucks

One comment on “Old Austin: Swearingen-Armstrong Auto Sales, 202 W. 1st St., at Colorado St.

  1. We have a 54 F100 that sold new here to UT and used as a parts running truck for the store room up until 62 when it was traded back in, my father in law put a deposit on it before it even arrived at the dealer, it now sits in our garage being brought back to life a little at a time, she does start and run.

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