In this installment of Kustom Age we’ve pulled from Kustomrama’s annals of hot rod and kustom kulture history to spotlight Dick Dean, a second-wave builder from the golden age who according to some of the accounts, seemed like he had a heart of gold and a hell of a work ethic.

According to an excerpt in Kustomrama’s writeup, Rudy Rodriguez, owner and operator of Orange County, California’s Fullerton Fabrication had a run-in with Dean in the late 80s.

The story goes that Rudy was looking to see how much it would run him to chop his ’51 Mercury at the time. When Dean told him the cost Rodriguez made his way out “with his head down.” In a stroke of fortune Dick Dean told Rudy to stop by his shop everyday after work to ask what he wanted and to work with Dean.

Image & Lead Courtesy Of: Kustomrama.com

“After a few weeks and careful guidance, Rudy left to [chop] his own car alone.” When he’d brought it by Dean’s shop Dick allegedly smiled and said, “I knew you didn’t need me.” That’s enough to make the biggest lug feel some jitters in his spine and well up with a little twinkle in the eye, we don’t care who you are.

To forego a business deal in order to put the preverbal fishing reel in someone’s hand so that they could catch themselves is the essence of what it means to be a true enthusiast. Of course it’s unrealistic to expect someone to teach everyone their trade secrets. You’d end up building a wall of ample competition against your own trade but the point of this story is that actions like this are the stuff that makes this culture rich with history and sentiment. Those special moments and relationships that are created through a shop visit or lending a helping hand have the potential to create some powerful icons.

Kustomrama’s article ends, “Even today, Rudy gets quiet by the mention of the late mentor and master’s name, and talks about those magical evenings with Dick Dean as some of the best times of his life.”