Gene Winfield (born June 16, 1927) is an American automotive customizer and fabricator. In the mid-1960s, his designs caught the attention of the film community, resulting in a large body of his work appearing on screen, including in the iconic 1982 film ''

Blade Runner ''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott, and written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Dick' ...

.''

Early life

Winfield was born in

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimat ...

, in 1927. His family moved to Modesto, California, in 1929, where he grew up. He was first exposed to cars when his older brother, Glenn, opened a

wrecking yard A wrecking yard (Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian English), scrapyard (Irish, British and New Zealand English) or junkyard (American English) is the location of a business in dismantling where wrecked or decommissioned vehicles are bro ...

. In 1942, he bought his first car for $75, a 1928

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

coupé, and promptly added a radio antenna with foxtail, despite it having no radio. Later that year, the brothers opened Winfield Used Cars in Modesto. His second car was a 1930 Ford, powered by a 1937 flathead.

Career in Auto Customizing

In 1951, Winfield became interested in auto racing, driving 135 mph in a Ford Model T ("The Thing") at

Bonneville Speedway Bonneville Speedway (also known as the Bonneville Salt Flats Race Track) is an area of the Bonneville Salt Flats northeast of Wendover, Utah, that is marked out for motor sports. It is particularly noted as the venue for numerous land speed rec ...

. He soon opened Winfield's Custom Shop in Modesto, with an early innovation in custom painting, carefully fading two candy colors together, called "The Winfield Fade". In 1962, building on his experience, Winfield joined

Aluminum Model Toys Aluminum Model Toys (AMT) is a toy manufacturing brand founded in Troy, Michigan in 1948 by West Gallogly Sr. AMT became known for manufacturing 1/25 scale plastic automobile dealer promotional model cars and friction motor models, and pioneered ...

(AMT) as a consultant style designer for their model kits. Winfield also worked with Detroit automakers who turned to craftsmen to add their custom touches to factory cars. As part of the "''Ford Custom Car Caravan''", Winfield developed the Pacifica

Ford Econoline The Ford E-Series (also known as the Ford Econoline or Ford Club Wagon) is a range of full-size vans manufactured and marketed by the Ford Motor Company. Introduced for model year 1961 as the replacement for the Ford F-Series panel van, the E-S ...

van, the

Mercury Comet The Mercury Comet is an automobile that was produced by Mercury from 1960–1969 and 1971–1977 — variously as either a compact or an intermediate car. In its first two years, it was marketed as the "Comet" and from 1962 as the "Mercury Comet ...

Cyclone Sportster, and the Strip Star, an aluminum bodied sports car with a powerful 427

V8 engine A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. The first V8 engine was produced by the French Antoinette company in 1904, developed and u ...

. The Reactor (1964) was Winfield's next aluminum-bodied project, and was even more ambitious. It was a mid-engined front wheel drive two seater, with a very low profile due to the Corvair

Chevrolet Turbo-Air 6 engine The Chevrolet Turbo-Air 6 is a flat-six air-cooled automobile engine developed by General Motors (GM) in the late 1950s for use in the rear-engined Chevrolet Corvair of the 1960s. It was used in the entire Corvair line, as well as a wide variety ...

flat six. It showcased a light aluminum body, like the ''Strip Star'', but the technology went far beyond its novel bodywork. Winfield took the turbocharged engine from a Corvair Corsa and mated it to the drivetrain from a

Citroën DS The Citroën DS () is a front mid-engined, front-wheel drive executive car manufactured and marketed by Citroën from 1955 to 1975, in fastback/sedan, wagon/estate, and convertible body configurations, across three series of one generation. ...

, and retained the height adjustable

Hydropneumatic suspension Hydropneumatic suspension is a type of motor vehicle suspension system, designed by Paul Magès, invented by Citroën, and fitted to Citroën cars, as well as being used under licence by other car manufacturers, notably Rolls-Royce ( Silver Sha ...

of the DS. A January 1967 episode of '' Bewitched'' was written around ''The Reactor'' and its unique abilities. In 2017, ''The Reactor'' was shown at Pebble Beach. AMT hired him in 1966 to manage the new

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the on ...

based Speed and Custom Division Shop, which built full scale cars as promotional vehicles, including for

Star Trek: The Original Series ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that follows the adventures of the starship and its crew. It later acquired the retronym of ''Star Trek: The Original Series'' (''TOS'') to distinguis ...

. Winfield also used the Corvair

in a more conventional

Rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout In automotive design, an RR, or rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout places both the engine and drive wheels at the rear of the vehicle. In contrast to the RMR layout, the center of mass of the engine is between the rear axle and the rear bumpe ...

, The Piranha, a car originally meant to show the usability of ABS plastic in automotive materials. Winfield began producing this car as a kit, and made it a television star as well, first appearing in March 1967 on

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' is an American spy fiction television series produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television and first broadcast on NBC. The series follows secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a secret ...

After AMT closed this division in 1971, Winfield continued work in the custom auto body field in Southern California and appears as an honored guest at auto related events in the US. Winfeld was honored as the Detroit Autorama "Builder of the Year" in 2008, and since 2013, has been on the ''International Show Car Serie''s (''ISCA'') circuit, chopping tops and shaping sheet metal for the crowds in a special section of each show called "The

Summit Racing Equipment Summit Racing Equipment is an automotive parts retailer with four retail stores and distribution centers located in Tallmadge, Ohio; Sparks, Nevada; McDonough, Georgia; and Arlington, Texas. Summit Racing Equipment is also involved in motorsports ...

Chop Shop".

Filmography

Revered as "The King Of Kustoms", Winfield was featured in the 1st DVD in a series called ''The Kings Of Kustoms''. The series is a documentary and will highlight various car customizers, such as VooDoo Larry from Chicago, Illinois, or Alex Gambino of San Jose, California.

References

Sources

*Jonnie King's Hall Of Fame Legends Series
www.legends.thewwbc.net

External links