“I was a boy from Compton, Southern California, who invested his $200 savings in a 1949 Chevy when he was only 12. Not much before that, my father had taken me to Los Angeles to see the legendary General Motors Motorama Exhibition. When I saw myself there in front of the LeSabre concept, I decided at that very moment that I would do my best to one day become a GM stylist. As a teenager, I drove every morning to George Barris’ workshop; the most fascinating place in the world. It was packed with spectacular hot rods and customs. I was amazed by all that and I was especially enamoured by the incredible and spectacular paint finishes on the cars.
One of his employees opened his own business and I worked for him for an entire summer. In correspondence, he taught me how to paint in that special and eye-catching way. As a result, the cars I drove when I was young were always the most striking around and, much more importantly, I acquired the visual skills necessary to value the importance of the way in which lights and shadows ‘behaved’ on the body surfaces of a car. If it had not been for Barris and his people, I would never have made a career in this field.
At 16, I had already changed vehicles five times and I decided to make my first custom. I had a predilection for dragsters, so I continually tinkered with the transmissions, learning about them in the process. I also played in the school orchestra, practiced baseball and rugby too. I was beginning to realise that to get where you want in life, the most important thing is to focus on the issue, have perseverance
