Dean Jeffries' 1956 Porsche 356 Carrera - The Kustom Karrera

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1956 Porsche 356 Carrera owned and restyled by Dean Jeffries of Lynwood, California. Dean bought the car in 1957, right after he had sold his 1947 Mercury Convertible. At the time, Jeffries was a talented custom painter and striper, and he was working out of the Barris Kustoms shop in Lynwood. As he wanted to expand his talents into customizing, he began restyling the Porsche at the Barris shop right after he got it. The brand-new car was gutted inside and out, and Dean stripped the paint to the bare metal. During the construction, the car was almost lost in the 1957 Barris shop fire.
A construction photo of Jeffries' Porsche, showing it in primer outside Barris Kustoms, where Jeffries worked at the time.
Bill Hines paddling lead on the twin roof scoops on Jeffries' Porsche in 1958. "There was a lot of lead work done on the car, and I’m pretty sure most of it was done by Bill," Jack Walter told Kustomrama in 2020. Photo by George Barris, courtesy of The Rodder's Journal.
A couple of pictures of Bill Hines adding the roof vents in the Porsche were published in The Rodder's Journal. Photo courtesy of The Rodder's Journal.
Dean Jeffries 50 Fabulous Years in Hot Rods, Racing and Film is a book by the author Tom Cotter. The book was published in February of 2009 by Motorbooks. Click here to check price and availability on Amazon.com - Click here to check price and availability on eBay.
The Jeffries Porsche at the 1959 Sacramento Autorama.
A photo of Dean in his Porsche. Eddie Martinez re-upholstered the car with black and silver pleated goatskin. Each pleat was filled individually with foam rubber. A rear shelf was constructed, and a custom headliner was installed. The dashboard was decorated with push-pull knobs made by Jeffries himself. These were hexhead bolts that he trimmed in the lathe and chromed. The front trunk was carpeted, and the hood hinges and fuel tank straps were chromed. The inside of the deck lid was polished, and chromed tools were fit in a custom case.
Dean's Porsche gained national recognition when it was featured on the cover of Rod & Custom October 1959. Photo courtesy of Rod & Custom Magazine.
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An ad for Jeffries' Porsche from Hot Rod Magazine March 1960. The car is listed as a 1957 Porsche in the ad.
In 1960 Jeffries advertised the Porsche for sale in Road & Track September 1960.
Before Jeffries' sold the car, he repainted it with 50 coats of his own special Pearl Gold Paint. These photos were taken outside the Jeffries' shop in 1962 while the car was advertised for sale.[1]
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The gold version of Jeffries' Porsche was featured in Customs Illustrated May 1963 as the "Satin Spyder". This color photo was printed on the back of the magazine. Photo courtesy of Customs Illustrated Magazine.
In 1968 Randy Toole's father bought Jeffries' old Porsche after finding it advertised for sale in a local Orlando newspaper. Randy bought the car from his dad when he turned 16 and had it painted gold. Photo courtesy of Randy Toole.
Jeffries' old Porsche as it appeared after Randy Toole had painted it white with black steel wheels to mimic the Porsche German racing colors at the time. Photo courtesy of Randy Toole.
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The car as it sat in 1971 when Jack Walter bought it from Peggy Daole. Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.[1]
Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.[1]
Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.[1]
Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.[1]
Jack with his Porsche and his turbocharged Corvair Corsa in the spring of 1972. Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.[1]
Jack's Porsche as it appeared in 1972, after the nose had been fixed. He drove it like this for about a year.[1]
Jack and his friend James Thompson stripping off old layers of paint in 1973.[1]
Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.[1]
Prepping for paint outside the paint shop on Peachtree Industrial in 1973. Jack's dad had provided some surplus Lockheed Jetstar white epoxy enamel for the paint job. Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.[1]
Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.[1]
The Porsche fresh out of the paint shop before the blue stripe was added. Jack drove it back home like this to install the glass and lights. Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.[1]
A photo from 1974 showing the Porsche with a fresh paint job. The pointy stripe was a last-minute decision. Jack was laying out a wide Ford GT/Cobra style stripe starting at the back. When he got to the hood, he decided to run the tape parallel to the edges of the hood. [1]
The Porsche as it sat in the late 1970s. Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.[1]
Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.
Jeffries' old Porsche as it appeared in 2006. Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.
Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.[2]
Jack's Porsche as it sat in 2007, when Jack decided to restore it to its 1959 configuration. Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.[3]
Photo courtesy of Jack Walter. [1]
Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.
A photo from February of 2007 showing the car as it sat after it had been media blasted. Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.[2]
Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.
A photo from August of 2007, the engine is here, ready to be disassembled. Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.[2]
Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.
A photo from September of 2008, the transmission is here, ready to be installed. Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.[2]
By March of 2009, the nose had been fixed up, and the old custom was almost ready for primer. Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.[2]
It has long been a myth that Jack Sutton formed the nose of Dean’s Porsche from aluminum. That myth was perpetrated by a magazine article in the 1950s. This photo from the restoration shows that the fender extensions were formed out of steel and leaded in place by Bill Hines. You can see the seams where the fenders were cut back and the frenched extensions added. The smile-shaped cutout is from the repair job that was performed in 1972. Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.
In March of 2009 Dean Jeffries was reunited with his old Porsche for the first time in 47 years. Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.[3]
Dean's old Porsche next to The Mantaray. Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.[3]
The Porsche as it sat in June of 2009. Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.[3]
Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.
August of 2009, the body had been undercoated with Glasurit Stoneguard. Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.[2]
The car as it sat in April of 2010, sporting a silver paint job for the first time since 1961. Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.[2]
Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.[1]
Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.
July 23, 2010, this body was almost completely buffed out, and Jack could soon bring it back home again to have the interiors and rest of the mechanical components finished up. Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.[3]
September 7, 2010 the Carrera was back in Jack's garage, ready for final assembly. Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.[3]
The polished drums installed on the Carrera. Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.[1]
The Porsche as it sat in January of 2011. Headliner, fuel pumps, and front and rear glass had now been installed. Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.[1]
The restored version of the Porsche was unveiled in March of 2011 at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance. This photo is taken at the Friday Hot Rod Lifestyle Seminar. Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.[1]
Dean Jeffries and Jack next to the restored version of the Porsche. Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.[1]
The Porsche waiting to enter the show field on Sunday morning. Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.[1]
Jeffries' old Porsche at the 2011 Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance. Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.[1]
Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.[1]
Jeffries' old Porsche reunited with the Aztec custom car at the 2011 Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance. Albert Nussbaum, who bought the car from Dean Jeffries in 1962, was a notorious bank robber, and his partner in crime Bobby Wilcoxson bought the Barris Kustoms restyled Aztec at the same time as Albert. Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.[1]
A photo of the car that Jack took in July of 2018, shortly before he sold it at the Bonhams Auction. Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.
Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.
Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.
Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.
In 2023, the Kustom Karrera was invited to be part of the 75th anniversary of the Porsche exhibit at the Petersen Museum. "They were looking for Porsches with a California connection, and as a result, the Dean Jeffries Kustom Karrera is currently on display until next May," Jack Walter told Kustomrama in July of 2023. Jack believed Bruce Meyer had a big part in getting the car invited to be part of the display. "It was always my dream to get Dean's car into the Petersen Museum - I'm thrilled that it made it." Photo courtesy of Jack Walter.
Another photo from the Petersen Museum exhibit. Photo courtesy of Rex McAfee.
Photo courtesy of the Petersen Museum.
Photo courtesy of the Petersen Museum.
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Featured Stories - Dean Jeffries


1956 Porsche 356 Carrera owned and restyled by Dean Jeffries of Lynwood, California. Dean bought the car in 1957, right after he had sold his 1947 Mercury Convertible. At the time, Jeffries was a talented custom painter and striper, and he was working out of the Barris Kustoms shop in Lynwood. As he wanted to expand his talents into customizing, he began restyling the Porsche at the Barris shop right after he got it. The brand-new car was gutted inside and out, and Dean stripped the paint to the bare metal. During the construction, the car was almost lost in the 1957 Barris shop fire.[4]


The Nose Job

According to old magazine articles about the car, Jeffries built a wire basket template with the contours he wanted for the nose and took the basket to Hollywood sheet-metal wizard Jack Sutton. Jack rolled a new front end out of a single sheet of aluminum.[5] The new nose was then welded onto the original nose seam.[4] In 2017, current owner Jack Walter told Sondre Kvipt of Kustomrama that it wasn't an accurate statement that Jack Sutton formed the nose on the Porsche from aluminum; "That myth has been perpetrated by a magazine article back in the 1950s. The fender extensions were formed out of steel and leaded in place by Bill Hines." Jack provided photos from the restoration of the car, showing the seams where the fenders were cut back and the frenched extensions added.[6] These modifications extended the car by 8 inches.[5] A set of Lucas Flamethrower units were installed directly beneath the headlights.[4] Both bumpers were discarded, and the front and rear pans were rolled under the car. The underpan was also re-coated with sound insulation. Ted Long worked at Barris while the car was being built. In 2016, he told Jack Walter that just about everyone who was working there at the time chipped in on the car, except him. He was only 17, and Dean wouldn't let him anywhere near it.[6] "When the Jefferies Porsche was built George was out of town, Jeff designed it, and Curly did the metalwork, Jeff painted it," Ted told Kustomrama in 2017.[7] "There was a lot of lead work done on the car, and I’m pretty sure most of it was done by Bill," Walter told Kustomrama in 2020, referring to Bill Hines. The Rodder's Journal published a couple of photos of Hines as he adds roof vents in the car.[6]


De-Chromed

Jeffries made a pair of custom taillights for the car. These were made from clear plastic that he dyed red. The car was completely de-chromed, except for a custom scoop he made on the rear deck grille. The rear grille was decorated with cold rolled quarter-inch steel rods. As a final touch, a set of functional roof vents, almost similar to the ones found on the Mercedes 300SL Gullwing, were made for the car. Jeffries' Porsche had a set of Maltese Cross torsion bar covers installed. Jeffries made aluminum panels to cover all the surfaces exposed when opening the doors, using a drill press. He installed thick sound insulation between the engine and firewall and covered it up with aluminum panels.[5]


Custom Upholstery by Eddie Martinez

Eddie Martinez re-upholstered the car with black and silver pleated goat skin.[8] Each pleat was filled individually with foam rubber. A rear shelf was constructed, and a custom headliner was installed. The dashboard was decorated with push-pull knobs made by Jeffries himself. These were hexhead bolts that he trimmed in the lathe and chromed.[5] The front trunk was carpeted, and the hood hinges and fuel tank straps were chromed.[4] The inside of the deck lid was polished, and chromed tools were fit in a custom case.[9]


RS

The engine was upgraded to RS specifications, similar to the ones found in the Porsche Spyder.[5] The whole engine compartment was chromed, including engine sheet metal and hinges.


Silver Pearlescent Paint Job

Once the bodywork was done, the car was painted a silver pearlescent featuring crushed fish scale. The paint cost approximately $100 per gallon. The dashboard was finished in silver leaf with corners highlighted in black. Clear lacquer was used for protection. The car was built over a period of seven months and cost about $8000 to complete.[5]


Awards

Once completed, the Carrera gathered 30 first-place trophies in car shows nationwide. The silver pearlescent version of the car was advertised for sale in Road & Track September 1960. By then, Jeffries had established his shop named Jeffries Studio of Style at 5807 Sunset Blvd., in Hollywood, California. Valued at $9000, the asking price was $6000 cash.[10]


The Satin Spyder

The Porsche was not sold, so Jeffries' decided to repaint it with 50 coats of his own special Pearl Gold Paint. The gold version was featured in Customs Illustrated May 1963 as "The Satin Spyder."[11]


Sold to Albert Nussbaum in 1962

In 1962, Dean eventually sold the Porsche to Albert Nussbaum. Nussbaum, a notorious bank robber, had a partner named Bobby Wilcoxson who bought the Aztec at the same time. About two weeks later, the FBI showed up at Jeffries's shop asking about the guy who bought his car. To Jeffries's surprise, Nussbaum and Wilcoxson were bank robbers on the FBI's ten most wanted list, and they had been partners on a couple of bank heists in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.[12] The FBI traced Nussbaum to Florida through the Carrera's registration. A few weeks later, the FBI surrounded his sisters' beach bungalow. Jeffries' old Porsche was parked in the driveway. As they entered the house, Nussbaum was able to sneak out and escape. After that, the Porsche remained parked in that driveway for several years while Nussbaum was tracked down and put on trial.[13]


Sold to Randy Toole in 1968

In 1968, Jeffries' Carrera was advertised for sale in the local Orlando newspaper. Local kid Randy Toole was 15 years old at the time, and his father, who also owned a 1966 Porsche 912, bought the car for $1000.00. When Randy turned 16, he bought the car from his dad. Before buying the car, Randy's father had swapped the original Carrera 4-cam engine for a standard Porsche 1600 engine. While Randy owned the car, it was painted twice. First, a gold color, then white with black steel wheels to mimic the Porsche German racing colors at the time.[14]


Sold to Sandy Hunter in 1971

In 1971, Randy traded the car in at Contemporary Cars, the then Porsche Audi dealership in Orlando.[14] After Randy traded it in, a mechanic named Sandy Hunter bought the car later on the same year. He brought it to Atlanta, Georgia, where he managed to damage the front end by crashing it into the back end of a Ford pickup truck.


Sold to Peggy Daloe

Sandy sold the car to Peggy Daole, one of his customers who had been struggling to keep a Fiat 124 Spyder alive and running. Peggy decided to buy the car when Sandy needed to raise some money to pay off a gambling debt.[4] The next weekend, Peggy went to visit her parents in one of the north Atlanta suburbs. Jack Walter of Roswell, Georgia spotted the car in Daole's driveway. Peggy was the older sister of one of Jack's best friends, and he tried to buy the car from Peggy, but she refused to sell it.


Sold to Jack Walter

After buying the car, Peggy sought funds for a trip to Katmandu and Nepal. She called Jack and wondered if he was still interested in the car. He was and bought it right away. Jack remembers that his dad thought he was nuts for buying the car. At the time, nobody knew it was Dean Jeffries' old personal custom. The registration papers listed it as a "Sebring Coupe." Jack knew it came from Florida, so he thought the car had gone through some modifications locally. Jack had the nose repaired several months later and stumbled upon an ad in Autoweek from an enthusiast who was looking for magazine articles about a custom Porsche built by Dean Jeffries in the late 1950s. Jack sent along a picture of the Porsche, and he got back a six-page letter describing the car and a list of the magazines that the car had appeared in. The enthusiast was extremely excited about locating the actual Jeffries Porsche, and he had no doubt about the car's authenticity.[4]


Jack Restores the Car

At about the same time, Jack visited a local sports car accessory store, and one of the other customers recognized his Porsche. He had grown up near the Barris' shop and had seen the car being built. He told some of its history, including some details that Jack could only confirm years later. Now that Jack had some idea of the car's origins, Ray Ringler of the local PCA was able to help by locating a copy of Rod & Custom October 1959 with the Porsche on the cover.[4] A year later, a friend of Jack bought a Porsche Spyder 550A. He knew a guy in Jacksonville who had some spare 4-cam engines, so Jack bought a 547/1 serial #90009 complete with the "Sebring" exhaust. A restoration of the car was completed in 1974.[4] The paint on the car was an aircraft epoxy with too much hardener mixed in, and it started chipping around the edges of the doors and decklids as time passed by.[1]


Jack Restores the Car Again

Thirty-three years later, In 2007, Jack decided to restore the car back to the way it looked when it was featured on the cover of Rod & Custom October 1959.[3] Mike Marcelic, owner of Eurocraft Classics, took care of the body and paint work while Jack rebuilt the suspension, brakes, engine, and transmission. During the restoration, Jack bought another Dean Jeffries car, one of the original Kyote Dune Buggies. The buggy also needed restoration, but Jack thought it would be a neat car to display next to the Carrera. Glasurit were generous enough to donate the paint to restore it to the silver pearlescent that it was painted in the late 1950s. Dean Jeffries was consulted and helped select the exact match for the proper silver. By April 2010, the Carrera was back in silver again for the first time since 1961. Next up was the trim and interior phase of the restoration. Jack installed new brakes, tie rods, a Koni steering damper, dual master cylinder, and trunk insulation. He cleaned up and reinstalled the Koni shocks, the headlights, and horns and rewired the lights. A fresh coat of Candy Apple Red was applied over the taillight lenses, and the brake drums were polished. He managed to track down a good set of chrome wheels that he mounted a set of new Michelin tires on.[2]


The Restored Version Debuts at the 2011 Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance

The restored version of the Porsche was unveiled in March of 2011 at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance. At the show, it was reunited with the Aztec custom car. Albert Nussbaum, who bought the car from Dean Jeffries in 1962, was a notorious bank robber, and his partner in crime Bobby Wilcoxson bought the Barris Kustoms restyled Aztec at the same time as Albert.[2]


Jack Sells the Car

In February of 2017, Jack advertised the car for sale on Petrolicious. The asking price was USD 765,000. In August of 2018, he sold the car at the Bonhams Auction in Monterey, and it returned to the Los Angeles area. In December of 2018, Jack told Kustomrama that the new owner, Jay Wiener, promised to preserve the car in its restored condition.[15]


Featured at the Porsche 75 Exhibit at the Petersen Museum

In 2023, the Kustom Karrera was invited to be part of the 75th anniversary of the Porsche exhibit at the Petersen Museum. "They were looking for Porsches with a California connection, and as a result, the Dean Jeffries Kustom Karrera is currently on display until next May," Jack Walter told Kustomrama in July of 2023. Jack believed Bruce Meyer had a big part in getting the car invited to be part of the display. "It was always my dream to get Dean's car into the Petersen Museum - I'm thrilled that it made it."[15]


Magazine Features and Appearances

Custom Cars June 1959
Motor Trend June 1959
Custom Cars September 1959
Rod & Custom October 1959
Sportscar Graphic October 1959
Sportscar Graphic October 1959
Custom Cars May 1960
Road & Track September 1960
Customs Illustrated May 1963
Rod & Custom August 1990


References

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 solaros1.smugmug.com - Dean Jeffries Custom Carrera
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Original Outlaw - Dean Jeffries Carrera Coupe - Starting my restoration project - 56 Carrera
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 www.356registry.com - Original Outlaw - Dean Jeffries Carrera Coupe
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 Coachbuilt - Dean Jeffries
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Motor Trend June 1959
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Jack Walter
  7. ↑ Ted Long
  8. ↑ Rod & Custom October 1959
  9. ↑ Sports Car Graphic October 1959
  10. ↑ Road & Track September 1960
  11. ↑ Customs Illustrated May 1963
  12. ↑ The HAMB - Top Custom
  13. ↑ The HAMB - The Aztec
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Randy Toole
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Jack Walter
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