He’s thought about this for quite some time.  As the gleaming metal shines before him, senior Michael Lindsay knows that bond he creates will be a permanent one. There’s no room for mistakes.

By subjecting the metals to such extreme heat, he would be temporarily weakening them only to make them stronger.

What’s he doing? Using welding equipment to work on a hot rod.

Lindsay, a senior, has recently enrolled in a program out in California called  Gene Winfield’s Classic Car class. Winfield, who gained fame in the 1960s for his car designs, has had many of his customized cars featured in films like the 1967 ‘Batman’ film, ‘Robocop’ in 1987, and most notably, ‘Bladerunner’ in 1982. ‘Bladerunner’ featured 25 of Winfield’s creations.

These classes that Lindsay attended included sheet metal work, Oxy Acetylene welding, and more.

Oxy Acetylene welding is is the process that uses fuel gases and oxygen to weld and cut metals. This type of welding includes the use of a torch to heat two pieces of metal together.

Lindsay got introduced to Hot Rod work at a young age.

“I have been working with cars since I was ten years old,” he said. “I was first introduced to Hot Rods, when I received a 1979 Trans Am. I was thrilled.”

In his opinion, the creativity that those who work on hot rods get to showcase is exciting.

“[I like] seeing other options out there. [Getting to see] people taking risks with custom cars.”

“The entire trip was inspiring to me. I loved working with Gene Winfield,” he said. “The trip made me learn to open my eyes to different things.”

Lindsay plans to pursue this as a career after high school and isn’t waiting until graduation to learn more.

“I have looked into Pennco Tech recently, but I am going to Camden County College for welding,” he said. “I want to attend more metal shaping and painting classes. I also really want to try and attend Gene’s class yearly.”

Using this article as a public form, Lindsay asked for the opportunity to give a shout out to Mr. Winfield.

“I just wanted to say it was an honor to work with Gene Winfield and say Thank You for the opportunity.”