The Legendary Custom Cars and Hot Rods of Gene Winfield

About this book

Of all the pioneering custom-car builders to come to prominence in the 1950s sceneHarry Westergard George Barris and Dean Jeffries among othersone of the most prolific was a young man from Modesto California named Gene Winfield. Cutting his teeth in Californias hopping postwar hot rod scene Winfield eventually gravitated to the media of custom cars becoming one of its preeminent purveyors. For the first time Winfields career is examined in this volume fully illustrated with photography from Genes personal archive. Written by longtime Winfield protg David Grant The Custom Cars and Hot Rods of Gene Winfield is culled from hours of interviews with Winfield and recounts everything from his early days in Modesto and his emersion in California car culture to his role in forming the Century Toppers car club his involvement in dry lakes racing the formation of Winfields Custom Shop in 1955 and the impressive string of vehicles that followed. Cars featured include the 1946 Ford convertible that graced the second issue of Rod & Custom the 1950 Solar Scene Mercury and the Ford King T that won the 1963 AMBR award among dozens of others. Grant also delves into Winfields involvement with AMT movie and TV vehicles for such projects as The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and Get Smart.