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History Dean Jeffries' Mantaray!

Discussion in 'Traditional Customs' started by Ryan, Jan 12, 2009.

  1. frank spittle
    Joined: Jan 29, 2009
    Posts: 1,672

    frank spittle
    Member

    I finally got to meet Dean Jeffries at Amelia Island yesterday. What a neat guy. He was pleased to see the story of the '64 Dodge Chargers he painted featured in the May '09 issue of Hot Rod now hot off the press. He is 76 now but really appreciating all the attention he is getting. I also purchased his new book and can tell you it is a "must read".
     
  2. wayneo856
    Joined: Jul 5, 2009
    Posts: 24

    wayneo856
    Member

    i think the cosma ray was used on the tv show bewitched wasnt it?
     
  3. wayneo856
    Joined: Jul 5, 2009
    Posts: 24

    wayneo856
    Member

    nope i was wrong it was this car
     

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  4. 'Mo
    Joined: Sep 26, 2007
    Posts: 7,432

    'Mo
    Member

    Fiberglass ... NOT! This beauty is hand formed aluminum.
    I believe it was welded from 86 pieces, and engineered to be removable.
     
    Last edited: Jan 11, 2010
  5. Bluto
    Joined: Feb 15, 2005
    Posts: 5,113

    Bluto
    Member Emeritus

    I'd rather make bodies in aluminum than anything else. No mess or stinking chemicals ...... and doesn't wear you out like steel. It shrunks well is easy to gas weld

    Honest if I can work the stuff anyone can.

    Never never let anyone BS you about it.
     
  6. The37Kid
    Joined: Apr 30, 2004
    Posts: 30,627

    The37Kid
    Member

    Finally found these misplaced 1946 INDY photos that I believed are the start of the Mantaray. Team cars entered by Corvorado Filippini, #52 finished in 7th place with Gigi Villoresi driving. Car # 53 did not qualify driven by Achilli Varzi. The Villoresi car is listed as an 8 cylinder car, I don't know what was under the hood of the #53, the nose has less louvers, maybe it was a 4 cylinder car. Hope others can add to the story. Bob
     

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  7. That would depend on your definition of beauty. If, like me, your definition of beauty grades function equally with form, well, there is no comparison.
    The anything by Italians includes beauty that is on an altogether different plane than the Mantaray.
    That said, it's one of the best 'Oooh- look at that'! show cars of the era. I was a kid when the Monkeemobile hit TV down under- Oh yeah! Jeffries really has an eye for cutting to the chase and making a clean, svelte & bitchin' looking car.
     
    Last edited: Jul 22, 2012
  8. An asymetrical beauty!
     
  9. Possibly the best of the asymmetrics? That'd make a cool thread subject.
     
  10. gnichols
    Joined: Mar 6, 2008
    Posts: 11,345

    gnichols
    Member
    from Tampa, FL

    That's what I get for not paying attention. My bad. Gary
     
  11. mac miller
    Joined: Jan 13, 2007
    Posts: 524

    mac miller
    Member
    from INDY

    It is so unfortunate that guy, Jeffries, had no idea what he was destroying to build that car... It could just as well have been built on a worthless Chevy frame or volkswagen pan or, better yet, had he been smart enough to design and build his own frame and suspension. Cutting up that Maserati, that guy certainly destroyed something far more valuable than he created.

    mac miller in INDY
     
  12. Karrera
    Joined: Jan 19, 2008
    Posts: 184

    Karrera
    Member

    Mac - until you have met "That guy" and spent some time looking over what he built from an old piece of scrap you should probably refrain from making such a stupid statement. The Mantaray was and is one of the best built and most innovative custom cars in the history of hot rodding.

    The whole underside of the all aluminum body is as well finished as the top surface - you can't see the seams where the sections were welded together. The level of craftsmanship that Dean demonstrated with his masterpiece was equal to anything that the Italians were turning out with whole teams of fabricators and Dean did this by himself in his own shop.

    Just another old pre-war race car or a true monument to the design and skill of one of Hot Roddings legends - a man that was one of my early heroes and remains so after having the pleasure of meeting him and getting a chance to talk to him in his shop where he was working on his Ford GT project.

    Read up on the history of Hot Rods in the early sixties and get an appreciation for what the Mantaray is - what it was before Dean used it as the seed from which he created this car is virtually irrelevant.

    Back in those days old race cars were pretty much worthless - Bob Bondurant says that some of the six original Cobra Daytona Coupes were sold off for as little as $800 in 1966.
     
  13. metalshapes
    Joined: Nov 18, 2002
    Posts: 11,138

    metalshapes
    Member

    The fact that you refer to one of the main men of Hot Rodding's history as " that guy" is pretty telling.

    He didnt distroy anything.

    The way I understand it, he modified an old derelict racecar that was way past its useful life ( before it would have become desirable again )

    If he wouldnt have snapped it up, chances are, there wouldent have been anything left to save and it would have been lost forever.
    Like what happened to lots of old racecars, over the years.

    To me, this is part of this racecars history.
    Just like its racing record is part of its history.

    Hopefully this car will not fall in the wrong hands, sometime in the future.
    Because I bet there are plenty of people who would want to undo part of this car's history.

    ( like what happened to the Morrari, and the Hoare GTO)
     
  14. 50Fraud
    Joined: May 6, 2001
    Posts: 10,101

    50Fraud
    Member

    ^^ Well said.
     
  15. ///
     
  16. The37Kid
    Joined: Apr 30, 2004
    Posts: 30,627

    The37Kid
    Member

    NEVER use present values to make a judgement on things that happened in the past. I guess you hate Barney Oldfield too for scraping his Christie Front Drive after it was on longer competive. :rolleyes:Bob
     
  17. No present values here. Foreign perhaps, so the point I make is a little moot.
    Love,
    Spoggie.
     
  18. Mantaray goes pass the realm of Custom Car and into the realm of Concept car and Coach built car. So what if the damn thing is built on a Maserati GP chassis. I love Maserati's but not every Maser built needs to be restored.

    Mantaray has existed longer with that chassis than it did as a Maserati race car. I truly hope Dean puts in place a deal with someone like the Petersen Museum who will retain it as the Mantaray by paying Maserati or greater price, as it is priceless. That may wake up those that despise its existence as an important piece of automotive history.
     
  19. The37Kid
    Joined: Apr 30, 2004
    Posts: 30,627

    The37Kid
    Member

    Jimmy, I thought The Petersen owned it, finally got to see it there in person in 2002. I've watched a few Maserati GP cars run at vintage races, some were perfectly restored. The Mantaray desreves to stay as it is, a milestone car in Hot Rod history. Bob
     

  20. I believe Dean still owns it. Haven't heard of any sale.

    I have not been fortunate enough to hear early Maser GP cars at full song going around a racetrack. I have heard a 250F on a parade lap, still gives goosebumps.
     
  21. Maybe they woulda be happy if it was painted Massaritti red (metalflake?)...............:D
     
  22. The37Kid
    Joined: Apr 30, 2004
    Posts: 30,627

    The37Kid
    Member

    Jimmy, Years ago I worked at a restoration shop, and had to pick up some parts at a customers place. Knocked at the door and his wife answered and said she'd open the garage door. There in the center of a two bay garage was a 250F Maserati, love the riveted fuel tanks on this cars. Very impressive..................but on either side was a sponson fendered Testa Rosa Ferrari. That image is burned in my brain forever. :) Bob
     
  23. Tom davison
    Joined: Mar 15, 2008
    Posts: 6,042

    Tom davison
    Member
    from Phoenix AZ

    You would think that the Peterson owns it as much time as it has spent on exhibit there; but Dean had it back at his shop when we visited there during GNRS 2011. If Pete owned it, it would have been in the basement.

    What a class act Dean is. The car is in a class by itself.
     
  24. Karrera
    Joined: Jan 19, 2008
    Posts: 184

    Karrera
    Member

    Dean still owns the Mantaray - you can see it in the background in his shop next to his 33 Ford and the Foyt Indycar that he owns.

    [​IMG]

    I guess by Mack's standards we should return the Hirohata Merc to stock form and I should cut the nose off my Porsche and replace it with the stock piece before Jeffries modified it.

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Jul 24, 2012
  25. Rootie Kazoootie
    Joined: Nov 27, 2006
    Posts: 8,134

    Rootie Kazoootie
    Member
    from Colorado

    I'm sure Jeffries knew exactly what he was destroying, but in the early 60s old race cars were... well, just old race cars without a lot of value. He has a long history with open wheel racing being a long time friend of Troy Ruttman. When Rutt went to Indy with Agajanian, Jefferies tagged along and striped/lettered Aggies cars and went on to paint/letter/stripe many Indy cars over the years. His father-in-law was Darwin Maxson from whom he got the old Mazzy. In the early 60s they teamed up to buy Foyts old BSF Offy when he got Elmer Georges Chevy. They ran it for quite some time in the CRA as the Maxson-Jefferies spl. with Paul Jones, Bud Rose, Bill Krause an others driving. I'm sure If he knew then what an old Mazzy would be worth in the future, he probably would have done something different.
     

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  26. mac miller
    Joined: Jan 13, 2007
    Posts: 524

    mac miller
    Member
    from INDY



    Yea, I know who Jeffries is. I was around when he was painting Indy roadsters. I generally appreciate his great work. I just think putting a "clown suit" on a GP Maserati wasn't exactly the highlight of his career.
     
    Last edited: Jul 24, 2012
  27. Torchie
    Joined: Apr 17, 2011
    Posts: 1,099

    Torchie
    Member

    I saw this car along with Mr Jeffries at the Detroit Autorama this past spring.
    Had a chance to talk with him as well as there was not a huge line to meet this man.
    In my mind Dean Jeffries is one of the truley "underated" car guys in our hobby.
    Some people don't work for the spotlight others do. A great talent none the less.
     
  28. gnichols
    Joined: Mar 6, 2008
    Posts: 11,345

    gnichols
    Member
    from Tampa, FL

    A couple of questions... were the race cars used in the Manta Ray significant in any way? Won some big races? Some sort of revolutionary design? If not, then they were just fodder for the scrappers or hobby racers like millions of other old cars have been, racers or not. No foul.

    If the Manta Ray been built on an old passenger car chassis and suitably massaged to custom car form de jour, it would have been just as cool. It was the way it looked after all, eh? Who cared about that stop n go stuff on a show car, or if they even ran, back then? A tidy build and lots of chrome was all that was required.

    Conversely, if those racers were truly important, then I'm sure some guy with a bag of extra $$ would have already cloned / recreated them and slid them under vintage radiator caps with impecable provenance - and the clones will still find their way to Pebble Beach or vintage racing sooner or later. Like the Bugatti's found in lakes, burried cars exhumed from behind carriage houses, or cars stolen 50 years ago and mysteriously recovered to become fully legitimized, it doesn't seem to matter.

    No worries, either way, Gary
     
  29. Rootie Kazoootie
    Joined: Nov 27, 2006
    Posts: 8,134

    Rootie Kazoootie
    Member
    from Colorado

    Here's what Jefferies had to say about it in a MotorTrend mag. interview:
     

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  30. Tom davison
    Joined: Mar 15, 2008
    Posts: 6,042

    Tom davison
    Member
    from Phoenix AZ

    We hung out with him at the shop for at least an hour in '11. I didn't ask but I assume he owned it then.

    [​IMG]
     

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