Modesto cruise icon Gene Winfield dies. He took his love of hot rods to Hollywood, Detroit
Gene Winfield opened his first hot rod shop in a west Modesto chicken coop in 1946. He later advised Detroit automakers and Hollywood producers and helped inspire Graffiti Summer in his old hometown.
Winfield died Tuesday, March 4, at 97, his company announced in an Instagram post. Winfield’s Custom Shop is now in Mojave, Kern County.
Winfield was among the early hot rod enthusiasts, modifying classic and modern cars to make them go fast while looking sharp.
At 35 years old in 1962, he was about twice the age of the fresh high school graduates depicted in “American Graffiti,” which is set in the summer of that year. Modesto native George Lucas based the acclaimed 1973 film on his memories of cruising 10th Street.
Winfield nonetheless was right at home at the annual Graffiti events, most recently taking part in the 2022 parade. He will be honored at a car show yet to be scheduled at the Graffiti USA Museum on North Ninth Street.
“He was fun, interesting, inspiring and he changed forever what car customs were to become,” museum founding board member Chris Murphy said by email. “He led the pack and will be forever celebrated at the Graffiti USA Museum.”
Hard times brought Winfields to Modesto
He was born Robert Eugene Winfield on June 16, 1927, in Springfield, Missouri, the youngest of six children of Frank and Virginia Winfield. The Depression prompted the family to move to Modesto two years later, according to Hot Rod magazine.
Winfield’s father, a butcher, set up a hamburger stand called Frank’s Nickel Lunch. His mother kept the Figaro Avenue coop that Gene would later convert.
The boy’s earliest job was at the hamburger stand at 10. Five years later, he spent $75 on his first car, a 1928 Ford coupe. He added antennas with decorative fox tails, even though the vehicle had no radio. And he painted the car dark blue.
Winfield graduated from Modesto High School in 1945, then spent a year in the Navy. He returned to his business and took up racing a few years later. He reached 135 mph at the Bonneville Raceway in Utah in 1951.
Winfield moved his shop to Tully Road, across from Modesto Junior College, and continued to build his reputation. He made the June 1953 cover of Rod & Custom magazine with a 1946 Ford convertible. “Gene had arrived,” his online obituary in Hot Rod says. So had orders to rejoin the military, this time a one-year Army stint.
Ford vans and sports cars had Winfield touch
Winfield drew the attention of Detroit automakers, as well as movie and television producers. He suggested design touches for 1960s vehicles including the Ford Econoline van and Mercury Comet Cyclone Sportster.
Catwoman drove a Winfield car in two 1967 episodes of “Batman.” The makers of “Blade Runner” in 1982 used 25 of his creations. Other credits include the Volkswagen Beetles in Woody Allen’s “Sleeper” from 1973 and 1960s series including “Get Smart,” “Mission: Impossible” and “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.”
The designer was known for the Winfield Fade, a deft touch where two candy colors meet on a hot rod’s paint job.
Winfield was part of the inaugural class of the Legends of the Cruise Walk of Fame in 2014. It consists of sidewalk plaques at and near Tenth Street Plaza. Winfield joined the Modesto High Hall of Fame in 2019.
Details on his survivors and services were not available as of Thursday morning.
This story was originally published March 6, 2025 at 12:33 PM.
