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Working For Winfield
by Aaron Brinkley & Tom Ferry
Pictures by Tom Ferry
Tom Ferry worked for Gene Winfield near the end of Blade Runner's production. He was kind enough to share with us some pictures and memories of working with Winfield.
"I worked at Gene's on and off from 1980 through 1985 , as work wasn't always steady. I was making big money in my aircraft painting business at the Burbank airport. I am a master painter. All I did was paint whatever came up. I painted lots of parts for many vehicles, including the spinner. Gene was a workaholic. He worked everyone into the ground. Guys half his age could not keep up with the 'Winfield whirlwind'.
Remember the ill-fated tv series Streethawk? Well Gene did the fiberglass work on the cycle. I have a picture of it someplace. We also did convertible conversions, 928 Porches, 280z, etc. I'll send photos. Gene and I painted a blue 928 together. He was on one side, I was on the other. We were spraying lacquer and he was showing me how to keep mixing more and more clear with the metallics to get a deep looking job. It was no big deal then, but now that I look back, it's very cool."
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| "This is a picture of the spinner across the street from Gene Winfield's shop." |
"Here's a pic of the police sedan at Winfield's.
The bubble vehicle in the background was used in the Woody Allen movie Sleeper. Gene built that." |
"This picture wasn't taken by me but given to me by a co-worker.
It's some sort of publicity shot taken in the desert." |
"This is another publicity shot. Again, not taken
by me." |
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"This is some silly sci-fi car that was always getting in the way. I don't know what movie it's from."
(It's one of the vehicles in the background of Blade Runner!) |
"This is the sedan used in the movie The Last Starfighter." |
"Here's one of the Porsche 928's we worked on." |
"The 'Leadsled' . . . one of many we built." |
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