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bodies. Capitalizing on this premise, in 1968-69 Dean created his own body for a shortened
Volkswagen chassis, the Shalako. The first car had an aluminum skin, but production models were built with fiberglass bodies. The low-slung two seater featured gull wing doors and a low, flat windshield. A
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as a radio operator until his
Honorable Discharge in 1956. In 1954 Dean married Jeanne Schrader. They had met in high school and spent the rest of their lives together. Returning to Michigan after the Air Force, he worked at a steel mill job until a deadly accident scared him away. He then rented
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Dean recalled, "Dad's body men could remove and replace fenders, bumpers and anything that unbolted, but little else. He used this outside fellow, who owned a tin building with a dirt floor, to do the serious repair that called for replacing quarter-panels and lead work, and his name was Bill Hines.
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toys, an avid car buff, tapped Dean to customize His/Hers
Studebakers. With a young family and plenty of creativity in his grasp, Dean then worked for Ryan at Mattel for several years, designing such notable toys as "Blaze the Wonder Horse," and the V-RROOM! X-15 tricycle with rear wheel steering.
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Dean related, "I built and entered an orange-and-white '57 Ford hardtop that I called 'Orange Peel.' The custom had neat little tricks that George liked, such as the stacked taillight lenses and the front grille treatment. Barris said, 'If you ever get to L.A., I'll give you a job.' We went to L.A.
207:. The car was built in two parts so that it could be shipped to Europe in standard shipping containers. In the grueling pace of construction, Dean lost three fingertips on his left hand in an accident. Despite the accident, Dean later built many other original and replica cars for Ohrberg.
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The 1959 Autorama car show was also when he got his famous nickname. The show announcer couldn't pronounce his last name and asked for his middle name. Then he shortened ‘Richard’ to ‘Dick’ and announced him as ‘Dick Dean,’ which became his permanent trade name.
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In 1964 George Barris asked Dean to run the famous Barris Kustom City. His work with Barris included many notable cars, including the Surf Woody (designed by Tom Daniel), the X-PAK 400 floating air fan car, and cars for television shows such as the
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and began earning extra cash. He also started chopping tops, which very few people were doing at the time. He was a member of the Down River
Modified car club. After high school, he went to Pasadena, California and studied at the
200:. Bricklin contracted Dean to develop his sports car concept into a full production vehicle named the Bricklin in the early 1970s. The Bricklin carried an impact-absorbing bumper, longer nose, and the signature gull wing doors.
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In Los
Angeles during the early 1960s, Dean augmented his show car work by building chassis frames and aerodynamic bodies for dragsters and cars intent on setting world land speed records. These included the
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and Bill Hines). Dean's second son and lifelong apprentice, Keith (Kid Dean) took over the business, renaming it South End Kustom in honor of Dean's start in
Wyandotte, Michigan.
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a little two-stall shop and started customizing on his own. South End Kustom was a struggle to keep in business, but he held on and his luck changed. It was 1959 at the
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dealership and Dean worked in the body repair shop. He learned the technical aspects of auto body repair, but was frustrated with the lack of creativity.
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and also attended the Ford Trade School because his life's ambition was to be a model-maker at Ford Motor
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Dick Dean was survived by his wife Jeanne (b. 1933 - d. 2011), six children, and friends (including George Barris, Dean
Jeffries,
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Bill let me hang around and watch him work, and he taught me how to work lead and do other neat custom tricks." Dean mastered
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with several of his peers (including Gene
Winfield, and Bill Hines) to customize a 1954 Chevy sedan for the show's host,
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In the 1990s, Dean worked mostly at his passion of customizing cars from the 1940s and 1950s. His repertoire included
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22:(February 9, 1933 – July 10, 2008), born Richard Dean Sawitskas , was an American automobile designer and builder of
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After a career spanning over 50 years, Dean retired in 2005. Several of his cars are on permanent display at the
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The
Shalako was featured on the cover of seven national car magazines where it caught the attention of
401:"Dick Dean; The Customizer’s Customizer," by Calvin Mauldin (Rod & Custom Magazine; February 2009)
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Dean continued to build cars with Dean Jeffries until his retirement, including the character cars in
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in , and true to his word, George gave me a job at $ 175 a week, and there was plenty of work to do."
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In 1985, Dean built the world's longest limousine with his son, Keith, as a promotional car for
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Dean was honored with many trophies and was inducted into thirteen Halls of Fame, including:
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Rod & Custom, Playboy, Hot Rod, Motor Trend, Car & Driver, Wheel World.
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manufacturer MPC produced 1/20 scale models of the Shalako and Shala-Vette.
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later model, the Shala-Vette, had a longer nose and conventional doors.
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Darryl Starbird's National Rod & Custom Car Hall of Fame, 2008.
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NHRA Rod & Custom Winternationals Award of Excellence, 1963.
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San Francisco Rod, Custom, and Motorcycle Show Hall of Fame
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A Tribute to Richard "Dick Dean" Sawitskas (1933 - 2008)
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Dick Dean (Legends of the Rod & Custom Hall of Fame)
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in 1966 on several TV cars, including Black Beauty for
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66:Dean entered the Air Force and served in the
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16:American automobile designer (1933–2008)
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59:under famous automotive designer
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366:Date verified by family members.
850:People from Wyandotte, Michigan
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40:Theodore Roosevelt High School
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830:American automobile designers
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811:Transport portal
692:Greaser (subculture)
601:Chopper (motorcycle)
237:Diamonds Are Forever
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527:(Von Dutch)
459:Key figures
261:Jesse James
243:Flintstones
205:Jay Ohrberg
186:Meyers Manx
162:The Monkees
24:custom cars
824:Categories
742:Surrealism
732:Rockabilly
606:Custom car
591:Café racer
507:Chip Foose
471:Joe Bailon
330:References
319:Custom car
240:, and the
231:James Bond
68:Korean War
766:CK Deluxe
682:DIY ethic
626:Lead sled
552:Dean Moon
511:Sam Foose
496:Dick Dean
191:Model car
108:Jack Ryan
106:In 1960,
93:Goldenrod
30:Biography
20:Dick Dean
786:Rat Fink
687:Futurism
661:Volksrod
651:T-bucket
646:Show car
641:Rat bike
631:Lowrider
596:Cal Look
579:Vehicles
392:Archived
352:Archived
313:See also
155:and the
34:Born in
727:Raggare
712:Pop art
675:Culture
636:Rat rod
616:Hot rod
611:Cutdown
557:Ed Roth
548:(Magoo)
531:Bo Huff
287:, 2004.
246:movie.
125:Dragula
666:Woodie
142:Mannix
112:Mattel
751:Media
656:Tuner
234:film
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123:and
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621:JDM
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