I was on FB and someone posted that yesterday May 5th 2013 was the anniversary of the passing of Dean Jeffries. Dean Jeffries built my merc in the mid 50's for Phil Sauer. Here are a couple of T-Shirts and a plaque I have that hung in NHRA museum that I thought I would share.
I was fortunate enough to meet the man at Amelia Island Concours. Bought his book and he signed it. We talked for a while about his striping and cartooning the Kopper Kart, but he didn't remember doing it! He said they DID drink a lot of wine at the Barris shop! He wasn't very fond of George at the time.
Years ago we went to his shop to see if he would paint some motorcycle pieces for us. He had panel painted a 60's Impala and a shoebox Ford and I wanted to know if those paint jobs could be translated to a bike. He had pictures of the cars on the wall and immediately knew which ones I was talking about. He showed us around his shop and was very cordial. He had his flamed '34 that when you walked past the front, it had a motion sensor that made the sound of a frog... ribbit, ribbit. He had a Maserati and the GT-40 sitting there with parts stacked on them like they were not that out of the ordinary. Wonderful guy and what a history lesson I received speaking with him.
I never met Dean Jeffries. After I found out he built my merc. I called him at his shop and talked to him. Was going to meet up with him and show him some pics, but he passed away shortly after I talked to him.Sorry I didnt'get a chance to meet him.
But did you read it. I like the story how his sewer pipe got a leak in his front yard. He is a doer, so he fixes it himself. He had a cut on his hand. The shit got in it and it got infected. He said the shit dam near killed him.
I went to the GM factory school in Burbank in the mid '70's. I got bored one day after school and cruised around. I ended up at Dean's shop. I was looking around out front and Dean walked up to me and we began talking, the next thing I know, he's giving me the grand tour of his place. I got to see the vehicle he was building for the movie "Damnation Alley" . The one that bent in the middle and had triple wheels at each corner that could rotate over things off road. It started out as an F250 of all things. When I saw it, they were were fabricating the one inch square tube skeleton and just beginning to fit the skin. It was fully functional and interesting to see I operation in the movie. All the while I am getting the tour, Dean was treating me like we were old friends. An absolutely incredible guy. I saw him at the GNRS hall of fame luncheon not long before he passed away and renewed friendships. I felt like I ran into an old friend when I went to Gene Winfield's shop and he has Dean's Damnation Alley vehicle sitting there. Gene was surprised that I knew so much about it, but when the designer and fabricator gives you a personal tour, you just don't forget that! Dean also had the Manta Ray, a roadster GT40, on of Foyt's back up indy car and a ton of other neat stuff. I sure was glad I got bored and wandered into his shop that day!
The Dean Jeffries Carrera will be on display at the Petersen Museum as part of the 75 Years of Porsche exhibit starting next week. The opening is April 15 and the exhibit will be open to the public after that. The exhibit is supposed to last for a year but some cars will be rotated through as time passes. They particularly wanted Porsches with a California connection for this show. It was always one of my dreams to see Dean's car displayed at the Petersen - luckily the current owner is helping to make it happen.
The Jalopy Journal
