Folks Of Interest Keith Dean Speaks Out On: The Early Years, Dick Dean, and, Favorite Cars !

HE GREW UP WORKING BESIDE HIS DAD, DICK DEAN, but KEITH "KID" DEAN has come into his own, is a GNRS Hall Of Famer, and has created some of the most beautiful customs you've ever seen in the last few years.

In this late-night Interview that Keith & I did at the KKOA 31st Annual Lead Sled in Salina, he talked about his early years, his Dad, and, some of his favorite cars.​

Keith Dean is an amazing crafstman, tells cool stories, and this is one Interview ya gotta hear ! SO, simply click-on the link below, listen, and, enjoy !
http://www.legends.thewwbc.net/gpage171.html​

Jonnie www.legends.thewwbc.net ​

NOTE: If you've got any cool Dick Dean stories let us know !!​

(Keith, last year & this year, has been nominated for Induction into the KKOA Hall Of Fame...and we wish him all the best !)​

 

I met Keith at Dean Jeffries shop in 1984 during my first visit to the US. After we talked for a while he told me that I need to go and see his dad. He gave me directions and called ahead to let Dick know that I was coming.
When I got to Dick's shop he was just finishing up a continental kit installation of a late model Caddy, a real pimpmobile. The customer arrived to collect it a few minutes later and rolled out of the shop with a big smile on his face. Dick was somewhat apologetic about having such a POS in his shop but noted that it paid better per hour than "real" custom work and in cash too and as such enabled him to keep the doors open and do the more aesthetically pleasing work that he was long recognized for.

Roo

 

Keith Dean should be a member of the hall of fame and it's hard to believe it would take more than one year of nominations. All members seem worthy but based on Keith's body of work He should have been in long ago.

 

I met him and his wife this year at the GNRS, we were setting at the same table at the banquet. Mostly listened to the conversations about what he was currently working on. Nice down to earth person. Good luck on the Hall of Fame.

 

Dick is another legend from the Detroit Area. His South End Kustoms in Wyandotte and Bill Hines Shop in Lincoln Park put Downriver on the Kustom Map. Add Chuck Miller to that group. Thats impressive for one little part of town

 

back in the late 1970's I went to Dick Dean to have a Chevy LUV Chopped (yeah I know, off topic, but bear with me). I took them just the cab and Dick said he and Kid dean would work together on it. After they looked at it for a while and discussed what I wanted, they said it would be better to put a whole new roof skin on it, instead of cutting and adding strips top the original. I said great, what would you use? Dick replied "That one over there, it's fresh off a 50 Merc that we did a Carson top on!"
So here it is, probably the only Mini Pickup on earth with a 50 merc roof

 

Another great interview. I knew Dick Dean from back in the fifties in Detroit. We were both in the 59 Autorama, and then he went to Calif. and I went to Florida. We met up again in Pidgeon Forge, Tn 30 years later. The legend continues with Keith.
Little photo of Dick and I in front of the Old Farts Car Club tent back in the nineties

 

rooman, bob t!, southpaw-customs, loveoftiki, hotroddon, hotrod1940...

Thanks so much for the stories, the pics, and, the great words about Dick AND Keith !

In-person Dick was a "force of nature"...one of the nicest, most talented that I've EVER met, and, admired by his peers for sure !

Keith is a true gentleman, a super-hard worker, and, has carved his own niche in the Industry with his talent and creativity. And, like his Dad, a very nice guy to spend time with.

More stories from Keith will be on the way...and these are just a start:
http://www.legends.thewwbc.net/gpage171.html

Thanks again !

Jonnie www.legends.thewwbc.net

 

When I found out Dick Dean was nearby in San Jacinto, I drove my '50 Ford to his shop with my first (and rough) chop tacked together with box tubing in about 102 degree mid-July heat. I can't recall if Keith was there, but Dick came out with a sharpie pen and drew on my roof where I should make the filler panels around the rear window...I'll never forget that. He always had cool stories to tell and even let a friend and me check out all of the cars he was storing in the back of the shop- the Barris Twister T, Madonna's Dick Tracy Auburn, and I think it was the original Monkeemobile. Keith is just as friendly and talented as his father was and always stops to talk kustoms...went out there a few months ago to pick up a carson top and he had three Mercs going...definitely a good candidate for the hall of fame...

 

Yes he is ! This could be his year to win at the KKOA Leadsled. Keith "has the eye" just like his Dad did. I'm on my way to Salina tomorrow.
http://www.legends.thewwbc.net/gpage171.html

BTW: When I talked to Dick about a great '53 Stude he chopped, he told me he loved to do those ! Basically didn't do to much to the rear, just dropped the front of the top about an inch-and-a-half. Said that he did THREE in one week !!

Jonnie www.legends.thewwbc.net

 

To All Our Fellow Hambers...

Got a call from Keith yesterday afternoon while I was driving to Salina.

He's got a big project in the shop right now and won't be able to be here this year, but wanted me to thank everybody for the kind comments that you've posted here about him, and his Dad.

Keith hopes to be in Salina next year, and right now is working hard on a Super Kool '51 Merc for George Barris that will be a REAL showstopper ! I can't give you all the details right now, but Keith told me he thinks the car should debut either at SEMA this year or the GNRS next year. SO you know it's gonna be something to look forward too, and the info Keith gave me had me almost driving off the road !

I'm here in Salina right now...many cool cars have been pouring-in, along with Mark Moriarity, Harold Murphy, Bill Hines, Jack Walker, Cliff Starbird, and many others already here. If you can make it you will not be disappointed !

If you see me, be sure to say "Hi"...would love to meet-up with you !

Jonnie www.legends.thewwbc.net