WINFIELD’S OPEN HOUSE

PETE CHAPOURIS September 21, 2022 All Feature Vehicles

My pal Gene Winfield generally holds his annual open house in October, which is a good thing. The reason it’s a good thing, other than it’s a very cool event, is Gene’s shop is two hours north of L.A. in the Mojave Desert. So October is a whole lot more comfortable than mid-summer. SO-CAL Speed Shop founder Alex Xydias and I made the trek and we had a spectacular time.

Let me back up a bit for those of you who may not know the Winfield story. Gene was born 1927 and grew up in Modesto, California, where he was exposed to auto body shops and auto racing. At a young age, Gene opened his own business in Modesto, Winfield’s Custom Shop, and the rest, as they say, is history. In the mid-’60s, his custom designs caught the attention of the film industry, resulting in a large body of his work being seen onscreen, including in the iconic 1982 film Blade Runner. One of Gene’s early innovations was blended custom paint, where two colors are meticulously faded together.

(Left) Here’s a great shot of our host Gene Winfield flanked by Alex Xydias (Left) and yours truly. (Right) You never know who’ll show up at these events, here’s Alex and friends Blackie Gejeian (Middle) and Bonneville racer Jim Travis.

Gene did a stint working for the model car company AMT from 1962-71, managing the Phoenix-based Speed and Custom Division Shop where they built full-scale cars as promotional vehicles. After the division was closed, Winfield continued to work in the custom car field and appears as an honored guest at auto-related events worldwide. Yes, worldwide! In fact, Gene has chopped 17 tops this year alone while on the road, not bad for an 86-year-old teenager!

I’ve known of Winfield all of my life since my dad was a big fan. Here’s another one of those impossible turn of events where I’ve become friends with one of my heroes, as is the case with Chrisman, Xydias, Parks, Isky, etc.

Another great shot of Alex and old friend and drag racer George “Bushmaster” Schreiber. Check out the chopped Merc on the body shop building.

How about a street-driven version of the second generation Batmobile?

Okay, back to the subject at hand: Winfield’s shop is amazing, it’s a must-see kind of place. The open house crowd was huge and 300 modified cars of every description jammed the property. Gene opened up his shop to display a few of his creations, and the car parts on the back property defy description! Gene has been after Alex and me for years to come and celebrate his open house, and for some reason or another we were unable to attend. Well, let’s just say that we’re hooked and we’ll be there in 2014—what about you?