It is hard to cover in only a couple of pages almost 60 years of innovation, talent and craftsmanship that Gene Winfield has been associated with in the automotive world. He is one of the original California Customizers that started trends that would eventually cross the globe.

Gene built his first roadster in Modesto, California while in high school during World War II and hasn’t stopped since. He opened Windy’s custom shop in 1946. He has raced cars on the streets, dry lakes and the earliest drag strips of the country. Gene and his car club attended and also hosted some of the first hot rod shows. In 1951 while in the Army he went to Japan. While he was there he built and raced a 41 Ford. After his return from the service in 51 Gene opened Winfield’s custom shop in Modesto where he worked on projects like Rod & Customs dream truck. Over the years he has also contributed articles to many rodding publications and is currently answering a Q&A article for Car Kulture Deluxe.

By 1960 Genes work was getting national recognition, most notably for his custom paint jobs. His eye for shades and hues led to the development of the first fully blended paint job. His canvas was the radically customized 56 Merc dubbed the Jade Idol. It was quickly followed by another custom Merc called the Solar Scene, a 1950 with electrically operated seats that swiveled out to greet the occupants. A couple of other famous Winfield cars are the Strip Star and the Reactor, both of which feature futuristic looking designs and hand made aluminum bodies. Both of these cars are animated with remote controlled devices and gadgets. These cars have won many prestigious awards at national car shows.

Gen applied his body work and painting talents to 3 roadsters that each won the 9 foot tall “Americas most Beautiful Roadster” award in 1955, 63 and again in 64. By 1962 his notoriety had brought himself and several other builders to Detroit. Ford offered each customizer a new product to restyle. The “ford custom car caravan” hit the show circuit in hopes of capturing the youth market. Four years later Gene was asked to run the AMTs (a model car company) speed and custom division in Phoenix, Arizona. There they would envelop full size show cars and vehicles for TV shows, feature films and movies. Some of genes creations were the man from U.N.C.L.E. and Get Smart gadget cars, the Galileo shuttle craft from the original Star Trek series, a 31 Chevy that converted to the NEW 1967 Camaro in under a minute for the Dean Martin show, a new Impala split front to rear for a Chevrolet commercial, and he has also frozen a car in a block of ice for an oil company. Some of the movies and shows that feature his work are Ironside, Bewitched, Robocop, The Wraith, Magnum Force, Back to the Futures I & II and the list goes on. In some of his spare time Gene has done stunt work for tire companies.

Some of Gene’s larger projects include 6 cars for Woody Allen’s Sleeper and a monumental 25 cars for Blade Runner featuring Harrison Ford. Some of those cars had to be specially equipped with hydraulics to retract the wheels for a flying mode. One of these he recently restored for Paul Allen’s Science Fiction museum in Seattle, Washington.

In the mid-eighties, custom cars were again on the rise. Gene found himself with customers wanting to get their Mercs chopped, sectioned and frenched. He saw a need for repair to these old cars. He then developed a line of steel and fiberglass parts for Fords and Mercs to include complete 49-51 glass bodies. The glass bodies have built in features like frenched lights and already chopped roofs. Aside form the custom work and fiberglass business Gene finds the time to attend many car shows and events around the country each year and even found time to recreate his old racecar The Thing, which he races at Bonneville and El Mirage dry lake beds. One of Gene’s newer creations, Maybellene is a 61 Cad 2 door with a Northstar engine, an airbag suspension and sporting one of Winfield’s finest signature paint jobs.

Gene has won too many awards and honors to mention but some of his best are as follows:

-Oakland/Grand National Roadster Show hall of fame -Darryl Starbird's national Rod & Custom hall of fame -Kustom Kemps of America (KKOA) hall of fame -San Francisco Rod and Custom hall of fame -Michigan Rod and Custom hall of fame -2006 will be inducted to San Bernardino Route 66 Wall of fame and NHRA’s lifetime achievement award “The Wally”

Some of Gene’s more recent TV work includes 2 interviews on Hot Rod TV, an interview with Dennis Cage from My Classic Car, the Old School Chevy build for Monster Garage, painted a Cadillac for Billy Gibbons (ZZTop) on TLC’s show Rides, demonstrated fabrication and painting techniques on Travel Channel’s Riding with Rossi and History Channel’s Boys Toys Custom Cars where he also chopped a top, and 3 full size wind up cars for a Mobil oil commercial. With all that said, Gene is also in negotiations for his own TV show entitled: Reving with Winfield (copyright 2005)

If that isn’t enough, twice a year Gene teaches a workshop on metal fabrication to pass his experience of customizing on to future generations. When asked bout current projects, a twinkle of the eyes and his trademark smile was all we were able to get out of him. When asked about his age he responded the same way. No matter what, he is still going strong and shows no signs of slowing down.

To be continued…

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