Folks Of Interest Gene Winfield Is My Boss...Here's Some Fun Factoids...

So....
When is he comingto St. louis?

 

I have a t shirt and a poster signed by Gene,....HUGE FAN.....

 

Years ago I interviewed him for a now dead magazine. Gene is the easiest interview ever; The first question he answered lead to a new question I hadn't thought of and this went on for a good 20 minutes. In the end, he had answered all my prepared questions and many more others with me only asking a handful. He was and is a patient gentleman. And a memory like a steel trap. He remembered all kinds of dates and names. WOW!

Sadly, that magazine - Sign Business Illustrated, went south before they printed the interview and I had a hard drive melt down since then...

Vance

 

"Never smoked, Never Drank and Never had a cup of coffee...seriously! He doesn't even eat candy when I bring it to the office."

Well he's a better man than I!! Met Gene (Mr.Winfield)at Syracuse, what a nice man,had a great talk.

 

If I had an unlimited budget I'd hire Gene to put one of his fade-a-way paint jobs on my Impala that's on my avatar. I've had that car for 28-30 years. That would be a dream come true. Imagine it in shades of blue.
His talent is remarkable.
Carry on Gene. Best wishes to you.

 

There have been lots of people in the mid-west asking this same thing. If you know of someone that would host one of his workshops, just give me a call or have the shop call us.

Thanks All for your awesome comments and wonderful "how I met Gene" stories. Very Cool!

 

Awe man, Creative Customs????? Anybody else got a shop that could host this???????

 

My hero....

 

I love Gene...... Who doesn't ? I took the chevy for a drive on tuesday and ended up in Mojave...!!!!?

I was stoked that Gene liked the car!!!..... 'nuff said!!!

Ultimate !!!!!

 

Whats not to like... The car is badass!

 

Julie,

Last July as I was planning a trip Yosemite, where my wife and I were going to celebrate our 50th Anniversary, I remembered that Gene was now located in Mojave and thought I could stop for a break since we were going right through there. I called when we got to Mojave to make sure you were open and plugged the address into the GPS. I didn't know Mojave was that big but when we finally arrived with our dog, you kindly invitied us in, gave him some water and let him, and my wife, stay inside the office to get out of the heat. You told me Gene was eating lunch but to go ahead and explore the shop and yard. When I returned with some great photos I took, Gene was in the office and he gave me a personal tour of another part of the shop that I hadn't seen and told me about the projects he was building. I had already bought Gene's book and enjoyed reading it and seeing photos of some of the cars he built, but never thought about bringing it with me for him to autograph. Maybe on our next trip through Mojave.

It was so nice meeting Gene, and you, and I wish you the best in the coming years.

Bill

 

met Gene a couple times......even called him on the phone once on how to sink headlights.....THE MASTER

 

* Gene was born in 1927...which makes him 82.
* He eats very healthy and always 3 meals a day
* Never smoked, Never Drank and Never had a cup of coffee...seriously! He doesn't even eat candy when I bring it to the office.

Hope you all enjoyed some of these little bits of interest about Gene. He's an awesome guy to work for, there's never a dull moment at Rod & Customs

~~Julie, Secretary @ Rod & Customs~~[/QUOTE]

Just helped my dad celebrate birthday # 82 and he's about as active. must have been a good year! Who needs smoke, drink or coffee when you can have paint fumes? Good health to you and you give us 50 somethings, something to look forward to.

 

one of mine too, a real class act with mad talent, best of all, he is the type that loves to share the wealth of knowledge with his classes etc.
Look how many people have met him and are saying truly good things about him.
I've never met him but I hope to soon. He's on my facebook friends list, or rather its probably Julie Awesome stuff to see in the photo albums there also.
Thanks Gene and Julie.

 

Ask Gene if he "ever slows down."

Make sure no ladies are present.

You'll love it.

 

well i met gene in 92 took him for ride in parade in my 50pro street merc, he came to memphis a few yrs ago to paint larry douglass merc, when i walked in he turned and said hi blue,blew me away he rememberd me super cool guy, tell him i said hi

 

He's a legend, Has any out checked to see if he's an android?

 

Well like Gene I don't drink,smoke but when it comes to my coffee don't get in my way. Man has to have one evel thing to survive and coffee is mine. Kudos to Gene for his healthy ways.

 

heres a few more from this years rebel run in lima ohio. As you can see, he's a dancin man! and we all had a great time.


will he be in detroit for the autorama in feb.?

george

 

He is coming to Australia next March and I was 1 of 10 chosen from Melbourne to go to Sydney to see him do his magic for 4 days...CANT WAIT....

 

I got the chance to meet gene a number of years ago at a swap meet / car show he was checking out some stuff in the same booth as I was and this particular vendor was selling magazines. Well I strike up a conversation with gene and were talking for a few minutes and he starts going thru this pile of old magazines and he comes across the #2 issue of Rod and Custom and gene is on the cover of this issue and he starts to laugh telling me the story about this photo shoot. He puts the mag back down and I ask him if he was going to get it and he tells me no, well I pick it up and decide to buy it for myself. The guy running the booth as no idea gene is in his booth so he looks at us and I ask him how much for the mag. He tells me 5 bux, ok no biggie and I pay the man, gene grabs it out of my hands pulls out a sharpie and signs it on the cover. The old guy in the booth gives a WTF look and I tell him thats gene on the cover and this is gene standing right next to us ..... Dood bout flips out and trys to buy back the mag tellin me he'll give me 20 bux for it, I politely tell him its not for sale..... To this day I still have the issue tucked away wrapped in plastic.

and btw about gene having a vice, ask him about ice cream - LOL

 

that s story is priceless , and way cool

 

I know it's been almost a year but that story is priceless. Gene is a stand up kinda guy and I would love to have his talent.

 

I met Gene last year at SEMA when he was inducted as an inaugural member into the House of Kolor Hall of Fame....great guy. I got to spend time chatting with him at the after party that night and hung out with all the inductees at the HOK booth when I was photographing for their event. He's 82 years YOUNG...has more energy than some 20 year olds I know.

Here's to 82 more Gene!

Thanks for bringing back this thread...an oldie but a goodie.

 

At Leadsled Spectacular this year I met up with him again for the second time. He was finishing up his work on the '54 they were chopping, I walked up with some friends, we started chatting and he asked if we could carry his bags and cases. so we said of course. Later that day I was talking to my wife and told her about it. She asked me if he gave me anything and I said "I got to carry Gene Winfield's bags. That's the prize."

That Saturday night after the show wound down, he sat with me and some other guys and explained his fadeaway paint style the best he could without actually doing it. I am a huge Winfield follower!

 

back in the 80's I went to a class that Mr Gene Winfield gave on painting. was a joy to be around

 

I see Gene a lot at the local So Cal events and hi when he's not too busy.

He is always friendly and says hi with a big smile. All this time I thought I was special but after reading all these posts I realize he treats everyone the same!

For you guys that don't get to see him, he has tons of cool stuff that he crams into that trailer!

 

I see him at the Leadsled show in Salina every year.I got to say he is one cool dude! He has more talent in his little finger than most car people could dream of along with a great personality. I am honored to of met him.

 

The first time I went to Gene's shop in North Hollywood I was in total awe. and I've never felt guilty about my shop being dirty since.

Setting up at the Portland swap meet years later, I said "Hi Gene" and without looking up he said "HI! Grab that end and lets move it over there" after spending a half hour setting up his display he thanked me. then we talked.

Gene is the easiest person to talk to. I've never heard him talk down to anyone. At the Roadster show on set up day he actually stopped everything and sat down to explain how he would suggest doing a job I was in the middle of.

 

Met Gene in the early 90s at a 50s type custom show in Ohio when he brought out the"Glass" 50 Mercs.He was and is a class guy.Once you start talking to him its like you have been friends a long time. Tom (Tired Old Man)