South End Kustom was started by Dick Dean, the year was 1956 in Wyandotte, Michigan. Working for other shops, such as Clark/ Kaiser and the Alexander Brothers. South End Kustom stayed busy. In 1959, at the Detroit Autorama, Dick met George Barris. George had told Dick that he needed to be in California. At the end of that year Dick closed the shop and moved to California to work for Barris. In 2005, Dick Dean was set to retire. His son, Keith Dean wanted to continue the “Dean” tradition . As a tribute to Dick, Keith reopened the shop as South End Kustom and is continuing the old school kustom tradition set forth by his father.

In June 2015  Keith was inducted into the National Rod & Custom Car Hall of Fame as “Builder of the Year”.

Most recently Keith  took Mike Garner’s 1959 El Camino Custom  to the KKOA Summer Spectator Show in Salina, Kansas, were it won the 777 award ( best in show).  Keith was the the first to win Best in Show two times.

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