The Late Gene Winfield & Gene Hackman: Legends In Automotive and Pop Culture History

Ride along as Jason OldeCarrGuy Carr and John CustomCarNerd Meyer talk about the lives and contributions to the automotive industry and hobby of the late Gene Winfield and Gene Hackman.

From simply being his own stuntman in a car chase movie to actually building screen used vehicles, both of these Genes have been engrained into both the automotive world and the pop culture world. Listen to a car guy's perspective to explore how these men have made their mark in the automotive industry. 

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Music Credit:
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Transcript

Transcript
Announcer
You're listening to the Get Out N Drive Podcast fueled by AMD with your host John CustomCarNerd Meyer and Jason OldCarrGuy Carr, we'll be bringing you gearheads, everything you've never wanted to know about cars and why they should be on the road and not in your garage. Are you ready to Get Out N Drive?
John
Welcome back to the Get Out N Drive Podcast. Fueled by AMD, I am John CustomCarNerd Meyer.
Jason
And I'm Jason OldCarrGuy Carr.
John
So, Jason, what are you up to lately? I know it's been a minute since we've recorded. We've had some celebrity deaths, we've had some things come up, we've had some bills or laws that may get passed and things. What kind of stuff is going on?
Jason
In your neighborhood, one of the one of the biggest notable things in the car industry or the car genre is the death of the great Gene Winfield. We've talked about him, we've done episodes talking about that, that type of car hobby where you know, we you take. Anything and you just make it wacky and one-of-a-kind. And you know we rate him right up there with George Barris. And the Barris brothers and Gene well he's been to Canada in my neck of the woods in. New Brunswick. Many, many times for the Atlantic Nationals, which takes place in July every year. Here, that's where I first met him. I never ever expected for him to remember anybody that he met on a single basis, just simply because he meets a lot of people, you know, and a man of, I believe, 97.
John
He was pretty far up There.
Jason
So to be around for a century to see almost every car that likely was ever made in your in your life. Yeah. Gene Winfield. You know, the late great Gene Winfield now.
John
Yeah, he will be a big loss for the automotive industry completely right, right, right up there with all of our what drives youth? Initiative. He was very, very much into passing the torch very much into making sure the next Generation was welcomed and people got his knowledge. That worked out really well. He did a lot of on site. He traveled the world. For a while, he did a lot of on-site customizing chopping in person type stuff, and it was incredible and he always had people that were teens to 20s to 30s involved hands on with a lot of his projects.
Jason
Yeah, you know, and us being in our soon to be for me 50s, you know we we're at the age where we remember Gene for a long time and our parents, if they were into that, you know into the cars and stuff like that, they will remember Gene and maybe even our grandparents will remember the name.
John
MHM.
Jason
You know, to know that this is this is what he did now, not everybody liked that type of customization that he may have done.
Jason
But being a part of the what drives youth, he's been around teaching, showing what he did, showing everything you know, whether you are of the "Ring Brothers" caliber of car customization, or whether you are of the "Bad Chad", you know, everybody learns from somebody. I think a lot of these things go back to the Gene Winfield's, the Barris brothers of this industry, and knowing that he laid his mark in this industry, we will be able to see his work for many years to come, not just from him but from the people who aspire to be like Him.
John
Yeah. Gene didn't slow down at all until he was physically not capable, which was the last past year he was. He was going all over the place and he was still painting cards and working on things. A friend of mine, Carly Brogren, she was one of the last people to have a full, complete Winfield fade done on her Lincoln Zephyr. A kind of a refurb on her car and it turned out wonderful. And that's a big deal to have to have one of his cars painted. He was most known for that, Winfield fade. She was one of the last people to really stay. Yeah.
Jason
Yeah. And there's been a lot of people who have tried to duplicate the work that he's done. 
Jason
Some do it very well and some, not so well, maybe, but when everything's all said and done, you know as a passionate person who enjoys cars of all creations, whether they are rat rods which tend to be a more modern era of customization, whether they tend to be street rods, whether they are restomod, again a more modern term. Or, you know, we go back to some of the things that John's posted on his Instagram about hot rods and what does and does not constitute has a hot rod. If you're not following Get Out N Drive Podcast fueled by AMD on Instagram, Facebook or YouTube or wherever. Make sure you are because we are we are always posting these neat little things about certain things that we may be talking about in future episodes and that was one of them. The whole hot rod deal where people think that my 1975 Chevy El Camino is a hot rod. Well, no, technically, it's not. It may be a hot rod to you, but in the classical sense of the term. We tend to do that. In fact, when John posted I typed in the comments, "I wonder what motors' in that?" and I know John's hair just curled on the top of his Head when I said that.
John
What's left of it.
Jason
John
Now, Jason, you've seen RoboCop, right? The movie you have. Do you know the Gene Winfield built most of the vehicles in that? He built a lot of vehicles from RoboCop. You've seen back to the future.
Jason
For sure.
John
Gene built a lot of the background cars for back to the future. Yeah. In RoboCop, the 2000, I think it's called 2000 SUX. That still was sitting in his Mojave Body Shop, sitting outside for a really long time. There was a lot of vehicles that were built for RoboCop and vehicles that were built that were. Non moving cars background cars for back to the future. And those were still sitting, they still exist and they were still sitting in his in his back.
Announcer
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Jason
The Get Out N Drive Podcast is always looking to support the next Generation in the auto industry and hobby through our what drives youth initiative.
John
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Jason
If you are a younger enthusiast working on a build using AMD. We want to hear from you. If chosen, you and your bill will be featured in upcoming what drives Youth segment on the Get Out N Drive Podcast. Visit getoutndrive.com to let us know about your build or tag us in your build posts on social media. Visit autometaldirect.com and use the code #### for a 10% discount. Exclusively for our listeners for a limited time, AMD still or enthusiasts by enthusiasts.
John
Get out and drive in 2025, are you ready to get out N drive in 2025?
Jason
You know that that's really interesting and it really kind of ties into the to the next, you know, celebrity topic of what you know what's big in the news. These days, and it's another Gene, Gene Hackman, who again, if you guys have just. You know, if you haven't heard that Gene Hackman has died, get out from underneath the rock you were under because. It's happened and in a strange series of events that led to him. His wife. And one of his dogs dying, all within just a few days or a week of each other. Ended up not being suspicious at all. More uncanny and just coincidental that things happen the way that they did without getting into details. John, like Gene Hackman. At what was he, 94 years old, I believe.
John
I believe he was 94.
Jason
Yeah. So. With everybody who is sitting here right now in this screen can attest to the fact that Gene hackman's been an old person for as long as we likely can remember. Forever. Forever, right. So.
John
He was he. Was old to me when he was Lex Luthor in Superman.
Jason
Yeah, and. And, you know, people really don't realize that he's where he is. In in history. That you haven't heard from him, likely in the last 10 years. But. 50 years ago.
Gene Hackman
Yeah.
Jason
He was a big deal.
John
He was a big deal.
Speaker
What's?
Jason
What's the 1st movie you remember seeing him in?
John
I know Gene Hackman. The first one I saw him in character, Popeye Doyle. He was a hard hitting, gritty policeman in the French Connection from 1971, and he won an Oscar for that was his first. 
Jason
1st Oscar.
John
Yes, it was a big deal and the big deal that I think about that movie is the car chase. Because it comes off of the heels of Bullitt. And I don't know exactly for sure, but I think some of the people that had things to do with Bullitt and the car chase and all the production people and things I think they had a lot to do with the French Connection as well. It's filmed the same way. It kind of has the same feel and look, and if you haven't seen the French Connection, you haven't seen Gene Hackman driving a brown Lemans like a freaking nut underneath the EL train because he's trying to catch somebody that's up on an EL train and he's driving and he's looking. He ain't watching where he's going. He's looking up at this EL train. He's trying to catch the, bad guy and shopping carts, people, stuff, everything gets in his way. It is an amazing, amazing scene.
Jason
So I think that Paul has a clip of one of these scenes of him racing through the city and pay attention to the car that pulls out and Gene hits that was by accident.
Gene Hackman
The chase sequence was. You know, you read something like that in the script and it's not really that detailed. That's, that's all direction. That's all somebody's real idea of the way to make a film really move. You can't put that down on paper. And the car sequence was interesting because we worked on it a long time. Two weeks or something like that and it all cut back and forth between the elevated train up above and what was going on down below on the street. And I tore up a couple of cars. They had the street, closed it off. They had, you know, police all over the place, closing all the streets, coming in and for about four or five blocks. So we could really get a run and we were going, I don't know. 7075 mile an hour. Maybe more. But what they hadn't figured is that. The cars that were parked along the street belonged to people in the houses and they were going off to work. So in the midst of one of these long really hell for leather runs. Suddenly out of the corner of my eye I see. I see a guy pulling in front of. Me. And. Bam, we hit like. That and drove me into the steel upright of the elevated trains and washed the car out.
Jason
And he just kept going, John.
John
He did he did. He did. He kept going. And that's a big important thing is I know now with CGI and all that stuff and all the fake crap that Hollywood's tried to feed us recently with. I don't. I don't watch any of the any of the newer movies with cars and stuff. It just drives me crazy. Any of the fast and furious stuff where you try and jump a 69 or 70 charger and go to the moon or I don't even know where or I try and jump a CGI Mustang over the top of a bridge and the new Gone in 60 seconds. That's terrible. Gene Hackman did almost all of the stunts in this movie, he's even credited as a stuntman in this movie and the fact that they smashed into someone's car that they had no idea who it was and they kept that crap in the in the movie. Totally different time. Totally. Totally different time of the of movie making, you know, career.
Jason
And I said before we started recording that I bet the production company bought that guy a new car. In exchange for being able to keep that.
John
Oh, you keep that in the. In the thing Oh my. God the just to be able to say that you were somebody that pulled out in front of Gene Hackman, accidentally. And it stayed in the film. Yeah. Just absolutely amazing.
Jason
And I think that you can always take any actor at some point in their career and you can tie them into the automotive industry somehow. You know, this might have been what did it for, you know, for Gene Hackman back in what year was that? 71.
John
71.
Jason
You know, so if we go through and I'm just holding up, you know, a list of some of the movies that he's noted for. And take my glasses off to do this is, you know, after that we we've got movies like the Gypsy Moths in 1969. You know, we scroll through to the Poseidon Adventure. The original one there was a there was one that was made in the in the 2000's as well. Young Frankenstein, we move into the Superman. I guess it was in trilogies. They did make a fourth one, I believe.
John
They did.
Jason
You know we go. Hoosiers. And Mississippi Burning, that what a classic movie that was Mississippi Burning. And then we get into some of the more modern stuff into the 90s, Crimson Tide and The Bird Cage, Antz. Like, we just go through some of that stuff and people don't even realize that, you know, Gene was bigger than he actually. He was not only was he big in the movies, he was a big guy. He was a tall fellow. You know, so the loss of Gene Hackman, not just as a person, but he was a family man. He was an actor, he, he lived the life just like the rest of us do. And you know, to be accredited with such a long list of movies over. Over his career, it will be a sad loss. You know, our condolences go out to the family of both him and. His wife. But I think at the end of the day, you know, we need to stop looking at people as celebrities and looking at them as, as people, you know, they belong to a family somewhere along the line. And it's, you know, no matter who it is, it is a tragedy just like.
John
Mm-hmm.
Right.
Jason
Gene Winfield, he had family. So you know we don't want to make light of the situation. When somebody dies. But at the end of the day, their name was out there for a reason. It was because they knew how to do something and they did it well.
John
Yep.
Jason
So John, another thing I want to lead into a little bit seems how we're talking. About what's in the news.
We go back. I think it was last fall or early winter.
John
OK.
Jason
California. Stated that they were not going to allow. New 2025 RV's that ran diesel engines. They were not going to allow them to be sold. In California, and as a follow up to that, we are looking at now Jay Leno is jumping on board with a law in California that is going to hopefully if passed allow exemptions for classic cars.
John
MHM.
Jason
When it comes to emissions tests. So if your car is insured as a classic and you're only putting X number of miles a year like it's less than 5000, then yeah, you should be exempt. So where are the exemptions for these big diesel pusher RV's? They're not putting 70,000 - 80,000 kilometers a year on, at least not in one state, likely, Right? They're going out. They're parking. They're sitting for weeks on end in the sun, of course, California's got a lot of that. Why do why do classic cars rate higher than RV's, especially new ones? And why? Why are we letting these rules? Why are? Like. It's California. Sure. If you're from California, I'm sorry, but that's BS.
John
Oh, I think it's a bunch of bunk. I cannot remember the last time I saw while I was driving in regular traffic and saw a 1978 to 1990 vehicle. We just don't see it. Everybody's vision of classic cars is different. We're getting older. Everybody's classic cars are getting different. I threw up in my mouth a little bit. I was looking at Reddit the other day and I was on the classic car page. There are. Super cool, right? Somebody said I got a new classic car, so I clicked on it. It was an 84 Caravan. They had it parked in the middle of all sorts of woods, and it was all cute little pictures. And it was all sort of neat and everything. And I beat myself in the head several times and I said. Ohh, that's a classic Car?
Jason
You know those memes that you see on Instagram, Facebook and all those places where it shows a picture of two vehicles? It's like this is the truck this is a 30 year old truck in my head and this is a 30 year old truck in reality and the 30 year old truck in your head is a square body right? But the 30 year old truck in your head is an OBS Ford. Or something like that. It's just we, our minds take us back to when we were younger. Of what we thought 20 or a 30 year old vehicle was of what was considered classic and. Correct me if. I'm wrong. Classic cars. Is it 25 for classic and 50 for antique?
John
There's no difference where I live in in Illinois, Missouri, they consider 25 years and older from current registered date.
Jason
OK. So.
John
As availability for classic plates in Illinois, I think most of the states are like that as well, but I can't say for sure.
Jason
So I'm not a smart man and my mouth isn't that great, but this is 2025. And if we take 25 years off that that means anything built 2000.
John
Yep.
Jason
And older.
John
Yep.
Jason
Is a classic car. Oregon in your case an antique.
John
Yes. We saw a really nice Obs truck today was maroon, long bed. Joanne and I were driving and I said I felt terrible. I said Ohh man, that truck looks pretty clean. She saw some guy hanging out, driving it, you know, and she looks, she said. Hey, that's got antique plates on. It. And we all had. A good laugh.
Jason
Well, there you go. See, now you're '98. Jeep Cherokee is. No yours is an '89.
John
mine is an '89.
Jason
Ohh shoot I'm way off there. I can't even use that as an example, my soul.
John
No, wait. My brother-in-law Richard, he just bought today. He bought a 2006. Jeep Grand Cherokee. Which I don't think of as an old. Car. That's 20 year old car. Working on it.
Jason
It's crazy craziness.
John
We looked at the build date of it. It's working on a 20 year old car. And. I don't know. I don't know where the time goes.
Jason
Well, I can see a little bit of it. In my beard here.
John
A little.
Paul
Every Fiero ever made could have vintage plates on it.
John
Yes.
Jason
Paul, that doesn't help the situation. We're getting a little bit off track. We're talking about classic cars and exemptions and where that exemption should be. And in my opinion. This is just my opinion. When. When fuel injection and catalytic converters first started becoming a thing. catalytic converters in the 70s, fuel injection in the 80s. That was when they were really trying to dial in the efficiency and the lack of polluting. If you want to call it on modern vehicles. So is that where we should be drawing that line? Or should there be a line? If your car originally came with a catalytic converter. That puts us clear back into the mid 70s for a while here.
John
Well, that's where I was headed to talk about is California still has 1978 and newer must pass smog.
Jason
Yeah, which is ridiculous because the criteria for a vehicle to meet smog emissions in 1978 are probably 100 fold different.
John
Today, but they still want a visual, a catalytic converter. They have a sniff test and a visual test. You have to have a smog. Pump. Which just blows air. You have to have the air pump. You have to have the catalytic converter.
John
Yeah, and you have to have single exhaust. I saw a van the other day and it was for sale on marketplace and it was on some board for. You know, street machinery, stuff for sale, and somebody said, hey, how much is this? Somebody said. And they said is it a 78? Yeah, it's a 78. Will it pass? Carb California Air Resource Bureau. I think that's a carb anyway, but they said no. No, it's had dual exhaust put on it. It won't pass smog.
Jason
And what makes that so yeah, right now we're specifically talking about California, but what where that problem lies is that other states take on the rules that California sets. And again, we're not here. We're not a part of this podcast to be political or take political stances. But we all know the Generalities that are associated with California. That falls into all other states that may or may not vote the same way as California does.
John
They may be a different color.
Jason
For example I live right next door to Maine. Maine is on the complete opposite side of the country of California. The population of Maine could fit on a pinprick in downtown Los Angeles, but yet Maine adopts California emissions standards like why? And so why is that? Well, it's because. The climate activists and this and that.  The big picture is yes, I completely understand why you want to do that. But the, the, the smaller picture is look at the number of these cars that we're talking about. Based on the number of cars you have in your state. And how many miles like people are going like? Arnold Schwarzenegger can go drive his Hummer up and down the Pacific Coast Highway. Yeah, and he can put he can put 60,000 miles a year on if he wants to. But yet you and I can't go out and drive our pre 1978. Whatever. I couldn't drive Dale the truck down the Pacific Coast Highway. If I lived there. Because it wouldn't pass.
John
In its current form.
Jason
Not in his current form, his specially. So I just, I just find that we need to take a broader look at. What are we talking about here? How many miles are you putting on? If you don't think they should be driving 5000 miles a year on maybe restricted a little bit further. But nevertheless it leaves me in a position where I would not be able to in California, where the weather is almost always beautiful. To drive daily drive. My classic vehicle.
John
Which is odd because that's like the Mecca of custom culture.
Jason
Yes.
John
And that all a lot of culture car culture started in Los Angeles and surrounding I'm guessing because of the weather, I'm guessing, you know? 
Jason
They call it SoCal for a reason.
John
Yeah, there's a reason. But they are the most strict on everything. You listen to people that bought or that won brand new cars on the price is right. Power door locks power. Steering, air conditioning and California emissions. And that was another extra 100 bucks or whatever it was, but they had to tell you that. That's what it was.
Jason
Well, and again the whole point comes down to, you know if I want to buy myself a brand new. $500,000. Whatever they are, Winnebago, diesel, whatever. I in California, if I was living there, I can't go do that in 2025 as of right now. But again, we got to look at how much this is affecting California has the most cars of any state. California probably has more cars than all of Canada. And I get why they have such stringent emissions controls. The word smog was invented in California and they've got too many cars, they've got too many roads. I get it. But in the grand scheme of things, we go back to the, you know, Arnold Schwarzenegger's Hummer. Like that thing, even though it passes emissions. Probably puts out more emissions. Then the 1500 to 2000 miles a year, I may drive in my classic car. But yet I'm the one that gets penalized. That's the whole point, folks. We need to be taking a look at the realistic numbers of, you know, where is this? How is this calculated? And Jay Leno being a huge advocate for custom cars, keeping cars in their original form. You know, even having some race cars that he drives, you know? Keeping the hobby alive, Jay Leno is getting up there in age. He's not going to be around forever. There's going to be people like him that want to continue carrying that passion, and it seems as though. California, which I might add, not only is it kind of the classic car hub of the world, it's also the aftermarket. Parts source, Mecca of America and the world. So, all these big places that come, SEMA. SEMA comes out of California in the form of working with manufacturers to make sure that the products that they make are 50 state legal. So, you're we're talking hundreds of billions of dollars every year. In this industry alone, that comes out of California, why are we not fighting harder? And I think that we are, I really do, I think we are fighting harder now for these exemptions to be able to allow, you know, more and more enthusiasts who enjoy. What it is that we love to do and that simply with the eindows rolled down, the wind in our hair and cruising down the cruising down the road.
John
I know we've covered a whole lot of stuff in this episode, some things that some of our newer listeners and younger listeners. May have, may not have been able to associate with things that they know. If you are not familiar with Gene Winfield, you're not familiar with Gene Hackman or any of the things that they've done. We'll put some information down in our notes, go check these people out they are a big, big, big influence in the industry and one of the things that keeps my passion alive.
Jason
And as we move on to further episodes, we'll be keeping you guys updated on a lot of the automotive related news that we feel is discussion worthy. So we'll see you guys in the next episode.
Announcer
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What drives you?
John
Uh, I was listening to two of the windmills they were talking to each other the other day. One guy said, "I'm a huge music fan. What kind of music are you into?" He said, "I'm a huge metal fan."
Jason
Ohh look, it wouldn't be a good podcast unless we had a bad dad joke from Uncle John over here.
John
"I'm a huge metal fan."
Jason
I get it.