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The following information was taken from the recent ChopperHead Magazine issue. Be sure to get the magazine for the full story. Foreword by Timothy Stephens, article by Seth Borden
I met Dean "Pops" Bryant a couple years ago at the Beverly Hills car show. He caught me admiring one of his custom cars and struck up a conversation with me. He then grabbed my arm and little did I know at the time that I was going to be spending the rest of the afternoon with him. A couple days later me and Matt went out to his shop in the valley and experienced one of the most memorable afternoons of our lives with him. He is a wealth of information on many things going on in this world besides his vast knowledge of customizing cars and bikes. One of his protégé’s Seth reached out to me recently and I immediately knew that he felt the same way about Dean as I did. So the following piece you are about to read is written by Seth who has spent 15 years learning alongside Dean. So, Seth for those who don't know, drop it hard on these muthafucka's and let them know who Dean "Pops" Bryant is.
Dean Bryant, what can I say, the gentleman has lived a thousand lives. Right from his beginnings as a child, Dean chose to do things outside of the box and still does to this day. From leaving his parents' home at a young age, dealing with the blood, sweat and tears that life throws at you, to his charity philanthropy work with The Special Olympics, he always wants to make things better. I have looked at Dean as a book of knowledge. We have spent many of hours discussing life, people and the way it all works together. One of the most amazing things to me, is the way he can remember a specific date and events. These moments I speak of are not your normal well known events in history. Most individuals can tell you when WWI or WWII started and what not. Dean can tell you who developed new technology, specific details on whatever subject he is talking about along with the anecdotes on the people involved and tell you the year, the month and the date!
Dean has done it all, picking fruits and vegetables on large plantations/ranches, enjoyed a period as a successful prize fighter, became a customizer of cars and motorcycles, is a bank owner, admits to being a C.I.A. agent and resourceful construction contractor. To hear him tell it, Dean built nearly all of Los Angeles in the early 60’s and 70’s including the U.S.C. Medical Center. I can recall conversations about some of the early autos that he built in the late 40’s and how they would utilize a lot of the techniques and materials used in the construction of buildings and structures. I thought at the time, What ever got the job done... Now I realize that this is Dean's way of life. It was more about ingenuity than following a book that lays it all out for you. Same is true of the construction techniques he utilizes....
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