Born on March 22, 1922, Alex grew up in L.A. as the son of a leading producer of silent movies. Alex, like most young boys, had an instinctive love of automobiles. Working a part-time job after classes at Fairfax High School, Alex earned the money to buy his first hot rod, a '29 Ford roadster with a milled head and a chopped flywheel. After graduation, Alex worked at a gas station, eventually saving enough money to buy a '34 three-window coupe, and later a beautifully customized '34 cabriolet that he found in a basement garage at Los Angeles' Ambassador Hotel.

Alex, like many other young men of his generation, found his plans changed by World War II. He joined the Army Air Corps in 1942, serving as a B-17 engineer. On the day of his discharge, with borrowed money, Alex opened SO-CAL Speed Shop on Olive Avenue in Burbank. The shop created an astonishing variety of record-setting track and street racers, and in 1952 Mechanix Illustrated voted the SO-CAL gang the Number One Racing Team. While fast cars continued to run under the SO-CAL banner, Alex started a new endeavor, the documenting of auto racing events. He filmed everything from Bonneville to NASCAR, including Pikes Peak, Indy and the 24 Hours of Sebring. From his perspective as a successful film maker, Alex saw that the speed equipment business had changed drastically. The writing was on the wall, and in 1961 Alex closed the doors; two years later he accepted a position as editor of Petersen Publishing's Car Craft magazine. He stayed with Petersen for over 12 years, eventually becoming publisher of the company's Hot Rod Industry News. While there, he also served as director of the annual Petersen Trade Show, the forerunner of today's Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show. After leaving Petersen, Alex went on to work with partner Mickey Thompson, organizing the SCORE off-road equipment trade show.

Like his friend Pete Chapouris, Alex has been named one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in the high-performance industry and is a member of the Hot Rod Magazine Hall of Fame.