Carly Brogren is not shy about sharing her age. And at 70 years old, she’s on a mission — to take her beloved, custom 1939 Lincoln Zephyr to four car shows in five weeks.
The reason? To honor the man who painted her dream car, Gene Winfield, a legend in the world of automotive fabrication and customization. He was known for his “Winfield Fade” style of painting and for having many of his custom creations featured on film and TV, including more than two dozen vehicles in the dystopian flick “Blade Runner.”
Brogren’s Zephyr is one of the last cars Winfield painted before he passed away in March at the age of 97.
“I got the car eight years ago, and the car was ugly,” Brogren said. “It was orange and had a white, like, Corvette insert there. It was awful, but I finally, after 5 years of driving it that way, I finally asked Gene Winfield if he would paint my car and he agreed.”
But Winfield didn’t paint the Zephyr just once, or even twice… but five times.
Fifth time's a charm for the Zephyr paint job
“The first time he painted the car, his shop guys were taking it up to the upholstery interior, and the car came loose in the trailer. It's an enclosed trailer and so for seven hours it bounced around, had all kinds of damage done to it,” she explained.
“So he said, ‘I didn't like that first paint job anyway,’ so we brought it back, he painted it a second time. It was a beautiful paint job.”
Then came a mishap at a car museum. Brogren says she was storing her car there while the museum was still under construction.
“About six weeks later, there was a construction guy who was in a flatbed truck full of porta potties and he was doing a pivot in the museum. They were putting on an event for their benefactors and he backed into my car with the flatbed truck full of porta potties. So, who gets hit in a car museum?”
She took the car back to Winfield’s shop in Mojave.
“It got really hot in Mojave. One day it was 122 degrees and, um, his paint booth is really old school. It didn't have air conditioning and the paint all bubbled up, so that paint job was scratched,” Brogren said. “Then there was one other time where it got painted with some paint that wasn't even the right colors. They were really off and then the fifth time he painted it is this paint job.”
Brogren has said this final version of the paint job — a blend of sparkly purples and blues with a subtle stripe down the middle — is her favorite.
“I watched the process. He actually let me go in the paint booth with him. I had a respirator and everything. The only rule he had was you don't say a word, so I couldn't, you know, comment or anything about what he was doing and no one tells Picasso how to paint so I was very quiet and I abided by that rule,” she recalled.
The "Winfield Fade"
Now, she’s on a tour across the state of California to show off his work.
“I just want to honor him. I want to show the work that he did. He's a really good friend of mine. I miss him terribly, and so, this is for Gene.”
So far, Brogren’s trek has taken her from her home in Washington state (she hauls the Zephyr in a trailer behind a Hummer that she drives) to the Sacramento Autorama, to the Benedict Castle Concours in Riverside, to the West Coast Kustoms Cruisin’ Nationals in Santa Maria where her car will be on display at the Santa Maria Fairpark through Sunday, May 25.
After her stay in Santa Maria, she’ll attend the American Graffiti Festival in Modesto.
Brogren says she’s enjoyed cars since she was young, watching the high school kids in her town cruising around, but there’s something she says is missing from the car shows.
“I believe in girl power, you know, so we just need more women in the car community,” she said. “A lot of them are supporting their husbands and their cars and their passion, but my husband had a Super Bee and I was tired of going to the shows with him and just sitting, so I thought, ‘I want my own car,’ so that’s kinda what happened and here I am.”
You can see Brogren’s Zephyr and hundreds of other custom vehicles at the Fairpark from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Tickets for the car show are $20 at the gate, $15 for seniors, and kids 10 and under get in for free.
For more information, visit the West Coast Kustoms website.
WATCH: Cars cruise down Broadway in Santa Maria for West Coast Kustoms Cruisin' National City Cruise
