Zwart was born in Long Beach, California. He grew up alongside Freeman Thomas, a childhood friend who would later become a noted automotive designer, and the two shared a lifelong passion for Porsches. As a teenager Zwart worked as a veterinary assistant to save enough money to buy a yellow Porsche 914/6, a car he would later race in endurance events. He graduated from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California in 1979 and immediately began a career as a still photographer, contributing covers and features to Road & Track magazine.
In 1989, following an American Photography Magazine cover story on his automotive work, Zwart moved into directing television commercials. He joined Jon Kamen and Frank Scherma to co-found RadicalMedia, a production company whose automotive clients have included Porsche, BMW, Cadillac, General Motors, Hyundai, and Ford.
Zwart began road racing Formula Fords on the West Coast of the United States in the mid-1980s, an experience that drew him toward rallying. In 1989 and 1990 he competed in the US Pro Rally Championship driving a Mazda, ultimately winning the Open Class National Championship. He also contested the New Zealand round of the World Rally Championship in 1993, driving a Mitsubishi Evo.
His most celebrated motorsport chapter is his record at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado. Zwart entered the event for the first time in 1994 in a Porsche and won the Open Class Championship. That result launched a sustained Pikes Peak program: across fourteen years he drove ten different Porsche models and claimed eight separate class championships. In 2011 he competed in what was effectively a production street car, a Porsche 997 GT2 RS, and drove the car from Southern California to Colorado before racing it up the mountain — a journey documented in the short film "Porsche, the Road to Pikes Peak," directed by Will Roegge. He added another class title in 2015, winning the Time Attack Class.
Beyond Pikes Peak and the US Pro Rally series, Zwart has taken on long-distance events. In 1997 he entered the Panama to Alaska Rally — a 10,000-mile, 25-day event — driving the same Porsche 914/6 he had owned since his youth and finished second overall.
Zwart's dual career as a visual storyteller and a racing driver has made him a distinctive figure in Porsche culture. His commercial work for Porsche and other marques reaches millions of viewers globally, while his Pikes Peak record remains one of the most consistent class-championship runs in the event's history. His induction into the Pikes Peak Hill Climb Museum Hall of Fame in 2018 recognised both achievements. He has also contributed to automotive literature through three books published in collaboration with David Bull Publishing, covering subjects including the Porsche 917 and Porsche Rennsport history, and writes a monthly column for Porsche Club of America's Panorama magazine.