Featured Folks Of Interest Gene Winfield

It doesn't get any badder or sadder than this................................

 

I guess it depends on what you classify as a fade. There are lots of fade paint jobs out there but people didn't, understandably, copy Gene's style of fade so they are not painted like his are.

I was more a fan of his paint work that his actual builds here are some of my favorites.

 

Gene was a master at his craft and I have liked most of his builds, I have never been a Chevy guy and Gene sure turned my head with this 1952 Chevy which is a relatively recent build, I think debuted in 2015 knocked my socks off!

God Speed Gene. HRP

 

Rest in Peace, Gene...very sad day indeed.

 

My favorite, but everyone figured that....

 

Yeah, if anyone doubts that, get on IG and look at the thousands of folks posting their pic with Gene and he always was smiling with thumbs up.

 

Yes!! I'm a hot rodder before a custom guy. This is the car that pops into my head when I hear the name Gene Winfield.

 

I was born mid '66....seeing this car on "Bewitched", seeing everything about it being "functional"...and learning WHO built it and his history. Yes, a huge void left, but all those he taught! The video on Tik Tok, with Gene rolling up in a Model A coupe and the guy uses drones to film the car; If you seen the video, Gene's joy learning about drones is priceless!! I hope someone posts it.

 

Me too I like his cars better than Barris IMO

 

I see it this way:
When you think that many people his age or younger are sunk in the depths of disease or dementia or lie around in a nursing home for years his even not so good last years were better than many last years of people his age.

 

Gene wearing my helmet welding during the class I took at his place sectioning a '58 Impala. One of the highlights of my automotive life. So full of knowledge, so freely sharing everything he knew and answering any question you asked....never mind being in his mid 80's at the time and working ALL of us under the table. Simply incredible. We would be all so lucky to be able to do what we love for as long and as powerfully and have 1/3 the influence and legacy Gene left us. Hero

 

I'm going to stray off topic just a bit~

Don't sell yourself short Ryan, You have made an indelible mark on the internet providing a platform for thousands of like minded people who come together building, restoring and sharing hot rods & custom cars from the past, yesterday is being kept alive with your vision which has inspired both young and old to keep the traditional hot rods & Customs alive.

Viva La Hamb! HRP

 

I grew up not 2 miles from that motel. Dad knew Gene from back in the converted chicken coop shop days.

 

I first met Gene in 1989 At Pleasanton at good guys in August On my Bonneville, Pleasanton road trip in my 48. He had his booth set up out in the middle of one of the grass areas in the fair grounds along a side walk and I got to visit him without any glad handers around for several minutes, Got to ask him a few questions and just visit. Ended up buying my wife a pair of Chevy Bow Tie earrings that I believe she still has because that was about all I had cash on me for. Over the years I saw him several other times at shows and took a class from him and the man treated everyone he met as a friend and made you feel like you were a friend.

 

My knowledge of Gene Winfield is from afar, my first inkling was building models and seeing his name as a consultant to the model companies.....then I saw pics of the Jade Idol and to me that car was the one.........thank you Gene, may you RIP.

 

This one would be one of my favs but as far as that goes it's hard to pick just one. Yes the masters are leaving us one by one but we're thankful for what we have experienced. And it's all a matter of opinion, if you like it great if not change the channel or turn the page. RIP Gene

 

I recognized Gene is one of the greats when I was a kid looking through old car magazines and have always had great respect for the man. Everybody has their own opinions, and you can say what you will about his caregiver. I saw him as a pretty happy guy the last few years. He was out doing stuff, meeting people and having fun. I think he was getting a little extra special care on the side and he did not seem to mind. Yes, it turned out to be a weird fiasco. The world will never know what actually happened behind closed doors. Maybe she was a devious con artist with sinister motives; maybe she was just like every woman I’ve ever met, that expects a performance bonus for providing quality service.

 

Maybe not necessarily my favorite Gene Winfield build . . . but with my family's connection to the Clif Inman '57 Chrysler (customized by Joe Wilhelm), I've always liked the "Golden Sunrise" '58 Chrysler that Windy customized for Richard Zocchi circa 1979-1981:

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In the '80s & early '90s, the car was owned by fellow Bay Area Rodder's @John D'Agostino, Harry Craycroft & Paul Glavaris . . . each new owner changed it to their liking . . . and it eventually ended up in Michigan (in the Bob Fryz collection):

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About 5 years ago I showed up early Sunday morning at The Dallas Autorama. Gene was one of the few there setting up his T shirt table and his shop welding area. I ask if I could purchase a sweatshirt, and he politely said sure. After shaking hands and introducing myself he signed a postcard and handed it to me.

 

Gene and I share the same birthday. I’m just 20 years younger. I met him on his 90th at LA roadster show. Got to sing happy birthday to him with the crowd. He was a gracious man as can be seen with photos of everyone who wanted one. I have one with him and so does my wife. RIP to a very talented man. God Bless.

 

Gene was an Exceptional Man. I was honored to be a part of his July 2010 Metal Class at T.D.C. Engineering in Warners, N.Y. Gene used my Lead Tools that day. In hindsight, I wish I would have had Gene sign my Tallow Paddle or Vixen File. "Every day is a School Day" was Gene's lifes mantra. There may never be a person so generous, humble, and downright Cool as Gene. He also liked the younger females. Gene was also giving his signature Thumbs Up in his pictures with fans. He would also say (quite often) "I am having FUN". It was great to see a man of 9 decades always having Fun in life. R.I.P. Gene. Thanks for all of your knowledge.

VR&C.

 

Well said.
What is sad is a life wasted..... definitely not what Gene did. His was a rich and full life, and we are all the better for it.
Thank you Gene.

 

I said hello to him once in Detroit. That’s the only interaction ever.
But I’d say his biggest contribution to this “hobby” was his passing on of knowledge.

Some prople try to keep it to themselves.
Seems like he didn’t

 

I made it to Bonneville for the first and only time in 2002. I still remember like it was yesterday......strolling the pit area like a kid in a candy store and seeing this bizarre coupe.....painted in fading purple with Gene wrenching away on it. Priceless !!

 

Got to chat with him a little in Sacramento back in 2015 as he looked over Taboo. Then in 2019 had a dream come true where for the Calvacade of Customs display at the Portland Roadster Show they parked Taboo next to the freshly repainted Jade Idol. Ive always loved that car as the fade job drew me in as a kid. So it was cool that our little PNW custom got to sit next to the much more well known car.

 

Rest in peace my friend. I met him when living in California and I took classes from him on several occasions. He even offered me a job but I was in the military and couldn’t quit my job to work with him, But if I could have I would have in a heart beat. He was a kind person and always had time to talk with you and show you around and what he was doing around his shop. The world is now a bit dimmer without him in it as a guiding light for traditionalists in the car customizing community.

He will be missed.

 

Ok get this.....we have a relic of a local machinist. Someone, once gone, will be irreplaceable. When we couldn't find door handles for a 1929 Essex we were building he took the pieces of a broken one, made sand castings of two new ones from aluminum and they were awesome (if you know Essex door handles you understand), but I digress. So after numerous conversations with him and putting the pieces together (Modesto/Modesto JC/Winfield Shop/Advance Machinist Classes) I ask him if he knew Gene one day. He said absolutely! "As a matter of fact Winfield came into the machinist class one day and asks the instructor if the class was interested in a project he was working on. The instructor said sure and assigned myself and another student to it. Winfield had brought in a crude sample of a wheel center he had designed and built. So I refine the wheel center and get everything symmetrical and ready to be cast. We found a foundry in the Bay Area and cast 8 of the centers. I had one for the longest time but have no idea what happened to it." So out of that conversation I show him a picture of The Strip Star focusing on the wheels and out comes..."Yup those are them!" I about fell over. He didn't remember ever knowing if the wheels actually got built or not. Crazy!!!

 

Gene had a tremendous connection with my uncles Ray and Walt Anderegg!!! I'm so glad I worked up the courage to call him during my build and then meet him a few times and actually get my photo of him with my build in Stockton at the Paulson gathering. At Pomona we walked over to say hi, only to see him absolutely shivering from the cold and obviously in distress. I offered him my coat before I could reintroduce myself, but someone came up with another coat and they whisked him off. I knew that wasn't a good sign. But I go back to all the pictures of his work and especially the pictures that directly connect him to the roadster. He finished the bodywork on the roadster and painted it 1954 Buick Condor Yellow in early '54 (in mom's chicken coop). He again painted the roadster its famous green gold metallic tint in 1958, and supposedly used the same color on his shop truck. Uncle Walt worked for Gene installing custom taillights on 55 and 56 Chevys while he was in high school. Hopefully our roadster along with Von Franco's will be a continuation of Gene's rolling legacy. Here are a few more memories.
A few of Gene on runs with the Anderegg Roadster

(Gene is far right)

(Gene is leaned over on his Merc)

(Gene's amazing gold paint)

(Gene with our roadster in Stockton)