Weekend At Winfield's. Too f@#%ing cool!

Well, I just had one of the coolest weekends of my life. Two full days and more at Gene Winfield's shop in Mojave, CA. This will be a huge post so be patient for the pics.

Anyway, after a six hour drive and getting lost in the middle of the desert while very nearly running out of gas, my friend Gil and I made it to Mojave. I'm not sure why they even gave this "town" a name. It's not really anything more than a gas stop on the highway with few hotels. Once in "town" we grabbed some chow and tried to hit the hay. But I was like some little kid before christmas and couldn't fall asleep with all those visions of metal fabrication dancing in my head. I eventually did crash out around 2am. Saturday morning began around 6am. An hour and a half before the 7:30 wakeup call. We excitedly killed time wondering what was in store and how we'd apply this soon-to-be-acquired knowledge to our current and future projects, grabbed breakfast and headed into the nothingness of the desert. Well, it was only six miles from "town" but it felt like the moon. We arrived about 30 minutes early for the 9am cl***, cameras in hand and huge smiles plastered on our mugs. I would have felt like a **** but everyone else looked as dumb as we did, smiling at piles of Merc, shoebox and various other parts strewn around the desert lair that is Winfield's. The "cl***room" was just in one of his garage shop spaces where he had obviously been working the day before since it looked like most of our shops, a mess. Definitely nothing fancy. Perfect. The first day was like a metal fabrication information waterfall. I was the only guy taking notes and I couldn't do it fast enough. Basic shop setup, tool and work station creation, hammer welding, leading and english wheel were the topics of the first day. Very little hands-on but very thorough and obviously insightful information. Lunch was Subway as paid for with Gene's wad of cash and picked up by a couple of his cronies. He spent lunch just hanging out with everyone and showing us around the whole compound. We saw amazing customs in progress and a couple of old show cars in a container out back. Then, at the end of the day, the best part. Open forum for questions. Cl*** was supposed to end at six but the whole cl*** hung out asking questions until nearly nine. He answered questions about everything from exhaust megaphone creation to top chopping details on nearly everyones specific project to sectioning to pancaking my '47 hood. I think he was as happy to be there as we all were. Of course Gil and I talked about nothing but customizing and Gene from the second we left, all through dinner and until we both crashed back at the Motel 6.

Sunday morning found us awake way before our wakeup call once again. We hit the same greasy s**** for breakfast and headed to Gene's early. Day two was another flood of knowledge. Hammer dies, more english wheel, patch paneling, plastic body filler techniques and louvering. Every guy there got to make a louvered panel and then Gene signed each one as a souvenir. Cl*** ened at 6pm with the grand finale being a demostration on embossing. He created flames in an aluminum panel for his race car "The Thing". After another question and answer session the pupils began to slowly file out over about a two and a half hour period. I think everyone else was like me and wanted to move in. Before we left, Gil and I got to dig through Gene's private stash of customizing parts in one of the houses on the property. This house has no power and is filled waist deep with Desoto grilles, hubcaps, skirts and piles of every "most desireable" shiny part anyone could want. We were looking for a '47 Olds grille for my '47 Ford. In the near pitch black we only found one and it was a little too hammered. He said he knew he had another better one and would dig it up later. He asked about Billetproof then wrote it on his calendar for next year. He said he'd heard great things and wanted to come out this year but couldn't make it. Then, as if all that wasn't cool enough, he asked me to design his new catalog and all his product packaging. Holy ****!!! Plus I ordered a floorboard elimination kit for my '47. He was out of them so he told me he'd whip one up and bring it to me the second week of December when he's in town to paint John DiAugustiono's latest. WOW!!!

So, Gil and I grabbed a quick bite and got on the road just after nine. With two Red Bulls in me and a head swimming with a billion customizing memories and ideas I hauled *** for home. I debated turning around and ditching everything to live in Mojave and offer to be the janitor just to be able to hang out there eveyday.

Here are just a fraction of the shots I took this weekend. Enjoy. I know I did.





















Gene hammer forming a Merc window opening.


Window channel bending jig/tool


One of their shop made work stations with interchangeable pipe anvils. I took a ton of notes and pics. I'm building this first.


Winfield 101 cl***room.


Jig for one of Gene'e floating grilles.


Gene on the sandbag. Check out the homemade hammer!! Can you see what he used? Cool!


Gene leading.


His new flattie that's going in The Thing


The Thing. One of my alltime favorite cars and it was just sitting there outside. Awesome!


Gene, happy give us a few revs.


What's inside you ask?

 

kirk,
i really wanted to go.... but couldnt get away..... gene really is one of the nicest guys you will ever know......looks like a great time was had by all.........

 

You took a freakin cl***!!! OMG! That RULES!

 

GREAT story, GREAT photos. Thanks so much for sharing. He IS one of the BEST!

 

He's always very nice at his booth at shows but he was so hospitable and down to earth. He's a freaking living legend who's been doing this for 50 years and is still super sharp and ultra humble.

Oh yeah, he told us he's shooting an episode of Monster garage in january with Norm Grabowski, Dean Jeffries and one other builder who's slipping my mind.

 

That RULES!!!

I didn't know Winfield built the SUX-6000 cars from Robocop!!!

Great post, Kirk!!!!

 

I'd love to see the rest of the pics. Any chance you could post them or I could mail you a few bucks to burn a CD?
Curt

 

Hey Curt. What do you want to more pics of? I'll post or send.

 

billit proof, man i don't have the words to express how much i appriciate your story and pictures. i've had the pleasure to meat mr.winfield at a few shows, and he's always a super nice guy. he's my favorite customizer and thought of getting to do what you did is almost too much. can you please put on the rest of your pics? is he going to have this again? and why did he move so far out?

 

It won't matter what they build, that is going to be the coolest Monster Garage EVER! I'd give my right **** to be on that set for the week!

 

I am so grateful to have been able to go. I don't know if he's doing it again or not but I bet he does. Like I said I think he was having as much fun as we were. I'll post if I hear about the cl*** again. There were even a couple guys from Ohio, two guys from Washington and two more from Las Vegas. I'll post some more pics. He moved there a little over 2 years ago. I guess he just wanted to be left alone to do his magic and have plenty of space to do it.

 

if you don't mind my asking what did the cl*** cost?

 

Me and the man.

 

[ QUOTE ]
and why did he move so far out?


[/ QUOTE ]
To keep you guys from drooling all over his ****!

Gene and Norm on Monster Garage? I'd sure as hell watch that one.

 

How thick are the push/nerf bars on the back of "the Thing"?

 

hey joe, now that i've thought about it, that was probably a good idea on his part. the restraighning order is almost expired.........oh hell, did i say that out loud?.

 

Any pics from the cl*** would be killer...tools, forms, shop...I think I'd pretty much be stoked to see whatever pics you've got. Unless you've just got a few rolls of film from the greasy s**** you guys became regulars at. Don't need to see those.

 

More stuff in no particular order.

Shop cat. He works there. Why can't I?




Hemming a fender edge.


'41 Ford sedan turned convert. peeking out.



Cool Cleco keeper idea.


Sweet Merc. Unfortunately headed for Japan.


More of The Thing. **** that's cool!




This pretty much says it all for his place.




Gas welding up some trim holes. He had some awesome techniques and insight for this. This stuff was absolutely perfect and invisble when done.


The Strip Star. He completely fabbed the aluminum body, steering wheel, trim and the windshield. No full body shots because it was in a container.

 

Any other shots of the little blue, what looks to be a track nose thingy, right under the photo with the cat in it?

 

More of the shop stuff.

This is Gene's personal work station. Just imagine the cool **** that started life here.






His shear is outside.


His giant pipe anvil.


Gene braking an adge on a Harbor Freight bead roller. This was one of his buddies roller but he was showing us that the $70 one from Harbor Freight was just fine.

 

One of the High points, and there were many, from Bonneville was when Gene asked if he could use the shifter knob from my car in his Thing. He sent it back to me after Speed week along with a signed picture. He is a very appoachable and nice man.
David

 

Kirk that looks it was a blast. We all need to do something like that to keep this hobby alive. If you want a shot bag pm me...Later Danny

 

Kirk that was way cool... id love to go there for a cl***... maybe one of these days! Thanks for sharing!

 

Very cool stuff Kirk!

A relative and friend of mine, Jerry Hill, was pals with Gene in the 50's... They'd drag race and race roadsters all over California... Jerry was into racing motorcycles... and Gene into racing cars... long before he got into Customs, as the story goes.
Neat stuff,
Sam.

 

can you keep us notified on the catalog? when it's available and where we can get it.

 

Man oh man, who would think some funky old buildings out in the dessert could look so much like heaven.

I can't blame you for wanting to move in. Gene is THE man!

Definitely post it when you find out about the next cl***.

Made my day - thanks Kirk!

 

Yeah, I'll post when the catalog is done. It will be a while since it is pretty much going to have to be done from scratch. Photos and all.

BTW the cl*** was $175 per day for the two days.

 

Nice post. I'm there next time.

 

I think you pretty much summed it up in your ***le...

Too cool.

 

That is..AWESOME!!! Thanks for sharing.