[DiamondSmiles]

James Dean became a legend when he died in a road accident, but few know about the curse on his car.

Dean was already an accomplished actor when he began race car driving. While filming ‘Rebel Without a Cause’, he bought a Porsche 550 Spyder – the car that would end his life.

Dean nicknamed the car, "Little Bastard".

A week before Dean was killed, British actor Alec Guinness remarked that the car looked evil, and if Dean continued to drive it, he’d be dead within a week. His warning proved to be true.

On September 30, 1955 – Dean was driving to a race-meet along with a friend, when a Ford traveling in the opposite direction crossed into Dean’s lane and the two vehicles hit head on. Dean was pronounced dead at Paso Robles War Memorial Hospital.

After the fatal crash, a mechanic working on the wrecked vehicle had both his legs broken when the engine fell on him. But the accident meant he wasn’t there when fire damaged the motor workshop.

A doctor eventually bought the engine and installed it in his racing car. He died in a race soon after. Another person had the drive-shaft of Dean’s car installed and also died in a race.

Two of the car’s tires were sold to a man in New York. His car crashed when both tires blew out at the same time.

Eventually the shell of the car was repaired and sold for display. In Sacramento, California, it fell from its stand and broke the hip of a teenage fan.

In Oregon, the truck on which it was being carried smashed through the front of a shop. And in 1959, four-years after Dean’s death, it once again slipped from its steel supports and broke into eleven-pieces.

James Dean is buried in Park Cemetery in Fairmount, Indiana. James' car after the accident, below. The car has since disappeared.

You can see the rest of the images from the crash here:
http://www.documentingreality.com/fo...h-1955-a-9882/

[nikola]

I bet 90% of this is made up.

[DiamondSmiles]

Originally Posted by nikola ↗

I bet 90% of this is made up.

Like everything except his crash? Could be.

It doesn't appear there was much of anything to save.

The last I heard it was on display somewhere. Now, it's gone.

[Seven Of Nine]

Even if any of that was made up I read it like a thriller novel :) Hey, fiction or non, I'm easily entertained

[DiamondSmiles]

I'd like to believe he didn't do it on purpose, but, apparently, even back then, they could tell the other car crssed over into his land.

It does make for an interesting story.

[mrm1109]

i dont know why but when i seen "little basturd" i thought it was gonna be about his penis..

[Bouncer]

Filthy pirate hooker!

[kasapin]

The story is missing the part where after the crash a family of 2 stoped and tryed to help James Dean out of the car. The man cut his finger on a part of broken glass ..then developed gangrene and died 2 weeks later. His wife was pregnant at the time and from the grief and crying had a misscariage.
Stories like that without any real proof are nice fiction thou. Always interesting to read.

[William May]

The car did not disappear. The wreck was bought (I think by George Barris) and disassembled for parts. I never heard of any accidents from the cars the parts went into. Some of them are probably still driving around today. I think the empty shell eventually went to a junkyard.
There was a similar story like this about the "Car that started WWI, the one that carried the Duke and Duchess at Sarajevo when they were assasinated. It supposedly passed through many hands after that, killing people left and right, until it was destroyed by a bomb in WWII. It was described as a little red roadster.
The only problem with all these stories is they aren't true. The actual car that started WWI was a green "Graf und Stift" touring car, and it still exists in a museum. It was stored by the government after the assasinations, and no one else ever died in it. Not only did they preserve the car, they also preserved the bloody clothing the Duke and Duchess wore, and the pistol that Princip used to shoot them. In fact, they preserved about everything relating to the assasination. All people had to do was actually ask about it. It's the same with the James Dean crash.

[Broadjumper]

Originally Posted by William May ↗

The car did not disappear. The wreck was bought (I think by George Barris) and disassembled for parts. I never heard of any accidents from the cars the parts went into. Some of them are probably still driving around today. I think the empty shell eventually went to a junkyard...."

No entirely true. According to Barris, he paid $2,500 for the wreckage with the intent of parting it out, but among all the admitted uncorroborated stories we've all seen, Barris was persuaded California Highway Patrol to send the wreck on tour and when the tour ended, it was loaded onto a box car in Florida and sealed shut. Then it was transported via train back to California. When the train arrived in L.A., the seal was still intact, yet the car had vanished, and has not been seen since 1960.

Is much of this apocryphal? Probably. But the fact is no one knows exactly what happened to the wreck and these stories are as interesting however improbable, as any other...