Hand Painted Windshields

Some shots of a few from over the years...

I have painted some 170,000 windshields to date (April 2012). I originally was mesmerized, watching my father, Henry McCall, Jr. paint his on his used car lot, when I was a kid. He would spend hours with tempera paint and a 3/8" flat sable brush making the windshield 'talk to the lookers', as he said. He said, "Tell them a story!...then they might actually look a little harder at the car for sale. Hmmm. My job was to wipe down the fenders the next morning with the shammy, after the tempera ran from the dew.

It looked easy enough and when I first tried to sell my very own '55 ford 2 dr for $100 on his lot, I tried my hand at this elusive talent. Disaster! Couldn't keep the letters looking right and everything went downhill from there. Sold the car to an airman, but the hood blew open on his way home and I had to buy the car back! Ouch.

Well...years later, I was still fascinated. I was managing a large Chevy, olds, Cadillac, VW and Audi store and could not keep the various campaigns in my head...and neither could the salespeople. I started painting the windshields with paint sticks and experimenting with brushes and paints. Tempera ran in the morning dew. Lettering enamel took forever to use. Poster enamel was perfect. especially the fluoro. I was off and running.

Then one day, I had had enough of the stress and pressure of managing the store with the others. I quit. A buddy of mine and I went to colorado springs to see the mountains and take some time off. Saw some hand painted windshields out there and wondered how much they were paying for them. Hmmmmmm. Came home and started my own business of windshield painting, which led to window painting and all the rest of my 23 years of being a traveling gypsy car dog vendor. I still love doing it and even today, I did 51 of them for a cadillac dealer.

I charge $15-30 a windshield, but to do a whole back glass or a van side window, I get more, depending on what it is to say. Typically, a dealer calls me up and wants me to do his new or used cars once a month. I show up, recolor the old ones for half price and bang out the new ones. I try to stay away from pricing, as experience has taught me that pricing a car can be a problem, if there is a trade in involved for some dealers. Basic, generic messages seem to work the best.

I have lots more to say about the subject, so if you are interested call or email me and I will be glad to answer your curiosity.

-Preston