We had heard the story before.... Dick Dean is retiring .... “HA” we thought.... fat chance... and the first time we were
right..... but this time is for real ... Dick is handing over the reigns of his shop to his son Keith, who has worked by his side
for many years. Once we knew it was “for real” we knew we had to go ....  so on Friday we hopped a plane for L.A. and on
Saturday morning made our way to Hemet, California... a small desert town near Palm Springs......

It was fitting that when we arrived we saw Dick sitting on the “King of Kustomizers” throne meeting his public ! The “throne” was being raffled off and Jack was really hoping he would be the lucky winner so he could have this wonderful piece in his shop.... but luck was not with him and someone else will be enjoying this piece of history.... Oh Well...... such is life !

This retirement party also served as a “garage sale” of sorts.... Dick has accumulated sooooo much over his career and he really just doesn’t need all of this so he had a lot of good stuff for sale......

There were even some Mercs that Dick had been working on in the shop which Keith will be finishing up... we hope he sends us the finished pictures...

Dick even has one of the first of good friend George Barris’s new Bicycles on display....

Holy Bat Boat Robin.....  We’re not sure what this piece is for or if it’s an “oldie but goodie” left from a bygone era... but it sure is kewl !

Dicks shop has something neat hiding in every corner.... a combination of his fabulous work from film projects to his cool customs..... 

What a great place to just wander and look into every nook and cranny... never know what you’ll find 

You’ll all remember Herbie in the Love Bug.... Dick was the man who made it all come about...

 Besides spending some time with Dick .... one of the really great things about just knocking around in this shop was the feeling you got as you looked from corner to corner..... shelf to shelf and saw all of the treasure ..... each item was a part of some grand idea in Dicks talented mind.... an idea for a car ... an idea for a prop .... some had served their useful purpose for a project and then were set aside to wait for another project .... some never made it because a better idea came along.... but all of these parts and pieces tell a wonderful story of a very talented man..... there’s probably a story in each of these pictures that we will never know..... but can only wonder about.

This awesome 49 Merc built and owned by Carol and Rick Erickson of Extreme Kustoms by Erickson won the only award of the party... Dick Deans Pick.... Very Nice Car..

This cool looking 51 Merc belonged to a young rodder who was just thrilled to find a grill for his car in Dick’s garage sale items....

And this is the office where so much creativity flowed from the mind to the paper and ultimately onto the projects of Dick Dean....

Dicks family took his Buick wagon and turned it into a saga of Dicks works.....