I used to walk by Dean's shop many times when I worked down the street at Hanna-Barbera in the late 60's and early 70's, I always wanted to go in but never did but, always marveled at the creations he had just inside the fence. It wasn't until a year or so ago that I was delivering a job I had done for him and finally got to drive through those gates and meet and visit with Dean.... what a great guy! I can't really add much more than has already been said here about the man, he really was a very humble, talented man and will be missed by many! RIP
One of the coolest. His Kyote II dune buggyis a wild piece -- with doors so you didn't have to climb to get in, and could be built open or as a pickup or wagon. Only 101 bodies made and I'm glad I have one.
They say Jeffries was the first painter to shoot metalflake. Hung out with Kenny Howard before he was Von Dutch.
Hate he is gone but so glad to know of his contributions to this hot rodding thing! Gonna read his book...... again. peace
In memory of Dean Jeffries: Another sad day for everyone but one must admit that it wasn't a life wasted. For those of us that grew up in the greatest time in history the mid 50's to early 60's Hot Rods & Customs were a way of life and Dean's work was some of the best. It's sad that one by one we are loosing the great's like Dean, Norm and Big Daddy Roth. Men like Dean Jeffries changed some of our lives forever in a way that those that came later or those that just don't get it will never understand. Many fine words have been written here and I hope that Dean's family will get some comfort knowing that so many think of Dean and his memory in such high regard. When I was a teenager my friends and I would wait every week for the TV show 77 Sunset Strip to come on so that we would see the Kookie Car for just fifteen seconds. All any of us could do was just dream and when the Kookie Car came out in the different car magazines we carried the magazines around at school till we wore them out looking at the pictures, but the entire time all we could do was dream. The thing that stood out on the Kookie Car was the Dean Jeffries flames on the side. All of us built Hot Rods with Flatheads because that's all we could afford, but nothing ever as good as the West coast stuff that the best built. With so much to do and so many thing to design it took me fifty years before I got back to Hot Rods. For someone that grew up in their time and spent a lifetime designing and building things I wanted my long awaited Hot Rod to be not only different but at the same time a testament to these great old timers. These masters that blazed the Hot Rod and Custom trail built so many masterpieces that later they would be considered "works of art" and my Hot Rod will only ever be just some car that some guy built. This is fine but along the way I decided to fabricate just about every piece of my Hot Rod. In the building process I came up with the perfect way to honor Dean, Norm and Big Daddy Roth even if in the end it's still going to be a car that some guy built. So I copied Dean's flames and built them 3Dimentional; a first. The look although not a Kookie clone is in the spirit of what Norm had built almost sixty years ago and the body is fiberglass just like Big Daddy worked with. I built my own molds and built the body from raw materials. As for the grill shell I sculptured it out of foam in the same way as Roth did with Roth using plaster. It's a Kookie Car looking grill shell. When my Hot Rod is completed It will still be just a car that some guy built but it will have the Dean Jeffries style paint job with the 3D flames and will be my testament to all these greats that changed my life for the better so many years ago. Rest in peace Mr.Dean Jeffries "You did good". Respectfully Yours, Johnny Sweet Dean Jeffries style flames in 3D.
I am told a public memorial and celebration of Dean Jeffries life will be held at the NHRA Museum at the Pomona Fairplex in Pomona California June 2 You can see more at http://www.deanjeffries.com
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