Customs Dean Jeffries' Mantaray!

[gnichols]

I just hate these non-HAMB cars... OHV motors, radials, fancy-pants sporty car mags, IFS and for heaven's sake, fiberglass of all things!

LOL. Gary

[frank spittle]

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".

[wayneo856]

i think the cosma ray was used on the tv show bewitched wasnt it?

[wayneo856]

nope i was wrong it was this car

['Mo]

Originally Posted by gnichols

I just hate these non-HAMB cars... OHV motors, radials, fancy-pants sporty car mags, IFS and for heaven's sake, fiberglass of all things!

LOL. Gary

Fiberglass ... NOT! This beauty is hand formed aluminum.
I believe it was welded from 86 pieces, and engineered to be removable.

[Bluto]

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.

[The37Kid]

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

[Spoggie]

Originally Posted by James D

That car is every bit as beautiful as anything from Ghia, Farina, Bertone or any of the other design houses.

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.

[Johnny Hotrod - BC]

An asymetrical beauty!

[Spoggie]

Possibly the best of the asymmetrics? That'd make a cool thread subject.

[gnichols]

Originally Posted by 'Mo

Fiberglass ... NOT! This beauty is hand formed aluminum.
I believe it was welded from 86 pieces, and engineered to be removable.

That's what I get for not paying attention. My bad. Gary

[mac miller]

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

[Karrera]

Originally Posted by mac miller

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

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.

[metalshapes]

Originally Posted by mac miller

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

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)

[50Fraud]

^^ Well said.

[Spoggie]

Originally Posted by metalshapes

The fact that you refer to one of the main men of Hot Rodding's history as " that guy" is pretty telling.
( only if you've met the man, or understand him thru the media)

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 )

- This is debatable

///

[The37Kid]

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. Bob

Originally Posted by mac miller

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

[Spoggie]

No present values here. Foreign perhaps, so the point I make is a little moot.
Love,
Spoggie.

[Jimmy B]

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.

[The37Kid]

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