Dean Jeffries has passed

For those who couldn't care less how their 356 left the factory!
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Jack Walter
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Dean Jeffries has passed

#1 Post by Jack Walter »

Dean Jeffries passed away this weekend at the age of 80. Dean was the creator of the Kustom Karrera that appeared on the cover of Rod & Custom magazine and sparked the whole outlaw Porsche movement. Dean was one of the top car customizers of the 1950's and 1960's and worked with many of the other greats of the Southern California car culture. He painted James Dean's infamous 550 Spyder and Carroll Shelby's first Cobra. His shop in West Hollywood was a gathering place for racers and movie stars alike - his friends included Lance Reventlow, AJ Foyt, and Steve McQueen.

I was proud to call Dean a friend - we consulted over the years as I worked on restoring his Porsche and I got to visit him in his shop a few times when business trips took me to California. I remember building a Mantaray model as a kid and then seeing the Kyote dune buggy with a Porsche 356 engine on the cover of Hot VW's magazine in 1968. I thought it was the best looking dune buggy of its time. I was in awe of what he had created when I first saw the Mantaray in person.

Dean was a great story teller but a very humble man - one of the true greats in his field and he will be sorely missed by his legion of fans and friends around the world. My wife and I offer our condolences to his son Kevin and his family in this difficult time.

I can only imagine Dean Jeffries, Dick Dean and Carroll Shelby getting together for a bull session after a trio of lives well lived. Godspeed Dean - you'll be missed by a whole lot of us.

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Phil Planck
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Re: Dean Jeffries has passed

#2 Post by Phil Planck »

Jack
Thanks for sharing.
Phil Planck

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Dan Kalinski
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Re: Dean Jeffries has passed

#3 Post by Dan Kalinski »

Many good thoughts go out to Dean and his family.

I comment here because, as a very young "gear head" slot cars were my first addiction to speed and competition. The Mantaray was my car of choice and with that car, was banned from racing at my local slot car track because I would win most every race regardless of track position. The owners of that track felt it was only fair to let some of the other kids win. A hard lesson for me to learn and understand at that time. Anyway, that car had a very big impact on my formative years all thanks to Dean Jeffries.

DJ.

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Brian R Adams
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Re: Dean Jeffries has passed

#4 Post by Brian R Adams »

I never knew Jeffries was a Hollywood stunt driver as well. Stumbled on this page with some interesting info about him:

http://forgetoil.blogspot.com/2011/02/h ... ii-ev.html

I never knew him, but it's sad to hear he had to make the drive onto Memory Lane.

Wasn't McQueen driving a Kyote on the beach in "The Thomas Crown Affair"?

Brian
Welcome to the era of policy-based evidence-making.

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Brian R Adams
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Re: Dean Jeffries has passed

#5 Post by Brian R Adams »

The full AAA article. Well worth a read.

http://ww1.calif.aaa.com/westways/2011- ... ?zip=90210

Brian
Welcome to the era of policy-based evidence-making.

Difficile est saturam non scribere (Juvenal)

George Batcabe
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Re: Dean Jeffries has passed

#6 Post by George Batcabe »

Brian,

l believe McQueen was driving a Corvair powered Myers Manx in the "Thomas Crown Affair".
I think l have an old video of it, if you'd like to watch it.

George #580
'56 1500GS
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Jack Walter
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Re: Dean Jeffries has passed

#7 Post by Jack Walter »

George Batcabe wrote:l believe McQueen was driving a Corvair powered Myers Manx in the "Thomas Crown Affair".
That's correct - the buggy in the Thomas Crown Affair was a Meyers Manx with a Corvair powerplant. When dune buggies were showing up in movies and TV the producers of the Monkees TV show wanted a dune buggy that looked a little different from a Manx so they commissioned Dean Jeffries to build one. The result was the Kyote. Since Dean had the mold and the whole buggy scene was escalating he also decided to start producing Kyote kits for sale. He made somewhere between 100 and 150 of the first generation Mantaray II Kyotes on a shortened VW pan and then changed the design to use a full length pan. The Kyote II's had inboard headlights similar to Dick Dean's Shalako- about 110 of these were made.

I managed to track down an original Mantaray II Kyote buggy a couple of years ago and fulfilled a teenage dream - it has Dean's business card laminated under the last layer of glass under the dash. I will restore it this year.

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Mike Colomby
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Re: Dean Jeffries has passed

#8 Post by Mike Colomby »

Dean's shop was right around the corner from my place.
I stopped by a couple of time to meet & talk to him, he showed me his shop, cool memorabilia, and told some of his stories.
The last time I popped in, I wanted to shop him my 58 A Coupe. He loved it, and told me to drive it hard & enjoy it.
It is a daily driver and I am doing just that.
I hope his family/friends find a way to open his shop to the public, or at least for events.
It is quite the place....
Mike Colomby

Greg Caron
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Re: Dean Jeffries has passed

#9 Post by Greg Caron »

Sad to read Dean has passed away... :shock:
I met him for the first time two months ago and spent some great time discussing with him.
He appeared to be very fragile but still had that special passion spark in his eyes...
Despite he had a great life, he remained humble and So kind...i Will keep this moment in my mind forever
God bless you Dean!
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