John Swander flies his 1932 WACO UEC cabin biplane like he drives his 1932 Ford coupe: window down, elbow out in the wind, his hands grasping the wheel-shaped yoke with relaxed confidence.

 Swander’s hobbies might lead you to think he’s stuck in a time warp. In some ways he is because his heart and soul are smack in the middle of what he calls the golden age of aviation, 1927 to 1941, and the golden age of hotrodding, 1945 to 1955.

 Although Swander is one of the owners of Volkswerks in Merriam, his after-hours wrenching is focused almost entirely on traditional hot rods that look as if they came straight from racing on one of California’s dry lakes.

 One of his current rides is a 1932 Ford five-window coupe whose originality is a badge of honor. The paint is faded, a horse blanket covers the seat, one of the windows is cracked and the chrome is pitted. Patina has never looked so good.

 About four years ago, Swander met Ken Schmidt and Keith Cornell, owners of Rolling Bones, a New York shop that specializes in creating vintage hot rods, at the L.A. Roadster Show in Pomona, Calif. He immediately connected with them and their philosophy. The three of them put their heads together and decided that the old ’32 hot rod sitting in Swander’s garage was ripe for a project. He shipped the car to their shop and they built a new frame, installed period-correct hydraulic front shocks and an original ’32 Ford front axle. The hood is now about one inch longer than stock but the paint was weathered so that it matched the car’s existing finish.

 Swander installed a small-block Chevy engine, dressed with three two-barrel carbs. The transmission is a five-speed and the rear-end is a Halibrand quick-change.

 Swander builds his cars to drive, and he has driven this one to California three times. It’s like driving a piece of history, he said. And that’s exactly how he feels about flying the biplane that he restored. The Experimental Aircraft Association named it Grand Champion in 2000, and he flew it in the National Air Tour in 2003.

 As if cars and aircraft aren’t hobbies enough, Swander smiled when he said he is learning to play the electric guitar. He plays a replica of a vintage Fender, of course. The time warp lives on.