Robert Eugene “Gene” Winfield is an American automotive customizer and fabricator who has been involved in the industry for over 70 years. He started building hot rods in the backyard of his mother’s house in the 1940s, and came to national prominence in 1959 with a stunning quad-headlight take on a 1956 Mercury two-door hardtop immortalized as the Jade Idol. Besides fashioning his own unique brand of customs, Winfield became famous for inventing the fade paint job. Winfield also played a key role in promoting custom car modifications to the general public by supplying modified cars for movies and TV shows, including a vehicle in the iconic 1982 film Blade Runner. No fewer than three Winfield creations have won the America’s Most Beautiful Roadster award, which is the Best Picture Oscar of the hot-rod world. Revered as "The King Of Kustoms", Winfield was featured in the first DVD in a series called The Kings Of Kustoms - a documentary highlighting car customizers.