Vince on stripes and lines
Fine lines, subtle colors and perfect weather
By signcraft
Posted on Thursday, February 28th, 2019
Vince Balistreri was in his early 20s, doing custom paint work in a body shop, when he first tried his hand at pinstriping. It was the mid-seventies, and he often watched pinstripers add striping around color panels and do other striping projects. Later, while doing paint work at a Toyota dealership, they asked him to do long lines on some of their cars.
“Doing a couple cars every day or two really helped my skills,” says Vince, “though some of those first ones were pretty shaky! As far as scrollwork, I think everyone starts by doing a refrigerator or a toilet seat. I did my share of that stuff, playing around and learning to design scrolls.”
He went on to do plenty of striping and hand lettering over the past 40-plus years. He’s striped at countless Bike Weeks in Daytona/ Orlando, along with cars and bikes in his shop.