If you've been inducted into a fraternity like the National Rod and Custom Car Hall of Fame, it means you've accomplished something. Most folks don't make it into even one Hall of Fame, so what about someone who has gained admission into five? You might think you'd never know someone with those kind of credentials, but you'd be wrong-just about everybody knows Gene Winfield.
When Gene Winfield's name comes up, most folks understandably think custom cars, but his sphere of influence encompasses much more. But we're getting ahead of ourselves. Let's start at the beginning.
Gene was born in Springfield, Missouri, in 1927, and moved with his family to Modesto, California, in 1929. Gene's early recollections of cars came from being with his older brother, Glenn, who had opened a wrecking yard. In 1942, Gene picked up his first car, a '28 Ford coupe, for $75. Though the car didn't have a radio, Gene still added an antenna and a foxtail for the look, which can be seen as his inauspicious entry into the world of customizing. Not long after, Gene and his two brothers opened Winfield Used Cars on Franklin Street in Modesto. Soon, young Gene learned how to paint cars.
The coupe gave way to Gene's first roadster, a full-fendered '30 Ford powered by a '37 Flattie. And even though World War II was in full swing, Gene found the gas money (and gas) to get to some of the bigger towns in Northern California: Manteco, Sacramento (where Harry Westergard had set up shop), and Oakland. It was in Oakland where Gene found other cars like his parked outside a Signal gas station, so he stopped and took photos of them. Talking with the station's owner, he heard about what was going on elsewhere in the state. Remember, this was in an era when enthusiast magazines did not yet exist-not even Hot Rod.
World War II eventually caught up with Gene and he served in the Navy from 1945-46. He later joined the Army, serving from 1949-51 and was first exposed to hammer welding while on leave in Japan in 1950. Between stints, Gene opened Windy's Custom Shop on Figaro Street, which specialized in "automobile streamlining and complete roadster work" that included porting and relieving heads, as well as dropping and filling axles. He also formed the Century Toppers (for those who wanted to top 100 mph). At that point, Gene was racing his cars on dirt and asphalt circle tracks, as well as at the dry lakes. His straight-line ventures were more successful than the left-turn ones, though. "I messed up a lot of nice cars out there," he says of the circle-track racing.
Gene's first dry lakes race was at El Mirage in 1949, part of the Valley Timing Association's racing schedule. By then he had picked up the nickname Windy and was racing a chopped-down Model T coupe, which got a nickname of its own-The Thing?-when it was featured in the May 1951 issue of Hot Rod as the Baby Flat Top. Some may remember The Thing? for its four rear tires (two per side), but Gene had other tricks; he turned the frame around front-to-rear to get the rod extra low.