Gene Winfield's 1935 Ford
1935 Ford Truck owned and restyled by Gene Winfield of Winfield's Custom Shop. This was Gene's second shop truck. When he got the it, half of the kustomizing had been done by Rick Lefelt. The rear fenders were from a 1939 Chevrolet. The grille was made of 1/4 inch chrome plated rods. In March of 1960 Gene's truck was shown at the Kustom Kar Kapades in Monterey, Calfiornia. In the souvenir program for the show there is a photo of the car with steelies fit with a bullet in center, but without the custom made hubcaps. This version of the car was painted in a copper-bronze color. The same year it was also entered at the 3rd annual Renegades Rod & Custom Motorama. According to the program, the car was chopped 3 1/2 inches, and powered by a full house chromed Mercury flathead V8.[4] The truck was often driven to the shows where Gene Winfield displayed it. If he didn't drive it, it was mostly flat towed behind Gene's other shop truck at the time, a 1958 Ford Pickup. The truck was also used to tow the Jade Idol around.
After going through boxes of photos with Gene Winfield, Hot Rod Deluxe Magazine discovered some pictures of the truck taken in August 1962. On the pictures the truck featured candy red highlights on the fenders. The candy red paint was used to cover up damage around the edges of the fenders, the result of driving it on the road.
Before the 1963 show season Gene painted the truck again, this time with 40 coats of candy blue lacquer over a pearl base. Inside, the dashboard was pinstriped by Tommy the Greek. The second iteration of the truck was called "TwiceNice".
After showing the second version of the truck for a couple of years, Gene advertised it for sale. In Hot Rod Magazine November 1963 the truck was listed in the classifieds section. The price of the truck was $1875 and according to the ad it then featured Chrysler Wires and a Corvette engine. The truck was eventually sold to a guy named Buddy from Oregon in 1965. He traded it for a Thunderbird and cash. After Buddy bought it he showed it a few times. Buddy changed the appearance of the truck by having it painted with flames and pinstriping. After that it was involved in a minor wreck. Dee Wescott was responsible for repairing the truck again. After that, the truck seemed to disappear from the public eye. For many years the truck was stored away in a barn. In 2006 the truck was pulled out of the barn and parked outside. After spending the next two years in the elements it was sold to Gary Hatfield of Hatfield Restorations in 2008. Gary had the truck towed to Hatfield Restorations in Canton, Texas for a complete, detailed, historic restoration back to Gene Winfield's first version of the truck.
May 2009 the restoration was well under way and the truck had been completely torn down and was in the process of being blasted and repaired. The only rust that was found on the car during the restoration was in the rocker panels and in the front of the bed. Before and during its restoration the truck was displayed at various hot rod and kustom related shows. October 2009 the restoration of the frame was completed and the motor was back in the car. H&H Flatheads was responsible for the restoration of the engine. The body was then almost ready for paint, just requiring a few more weeks of block sanding. On November 15, 2009, six and a half weeks before the Grand National Roadster Show, the bed and body returned from paint and the guys at Hatfield Restoration could continue to assemble the pickup. January 29, 2010 the newly restored shop truck made its debut at the 61st Grand National Roadster Show in Pomona, California.
Magazine Features
Rodding and Re-styling August 1960
Spotlite Book 532 Custom Pickups
Trend Book 205 Restyle Your Car
Hot Rod Magazine November 1963
Hot Rod Deluxe May 2009
Sources
The Legendary Custom Cars and Hot Rods of Gene Winfield
The HAMB - GENE WINFIELD SHOP TRUCK FOUND (official restoration thread)
References
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