The Bastard Legend

Sometimes fact really does turn out to be stranger than fiction. Take the Porsche 550 Spyder, for example. Do you recognize it? It's the car that killed James Dean. The story of the car after his death is even more interesting, but let's start from the beginning.

James Dean was a big racing fan. I don't mean a fan of watching Nascar on TV, but actually driving his own cars around a track. As a movie star, this means he was able to afford some pretty nice wheels. He chose to buy a Lotus Mk X (also a very beautiful car), but fate would have it that Lotus couldn't get the car finished in time for one of Dean's races, so for the interim he picked himself up a 550 Spyder. Here's where it gets spooky: after getting the Spyder, Dean met another actor, Alex Guinness, who saw Dean's new ride, which is known as the "Little Bastard", thought it looked too bad-ass, and so told him "Please never get in it. If you do, you will be dead within a week." Care to guess how long after this Dean died? 7 days.

On that seventh day, Dean originally didn't even plan to drive the car. See, he was going to trailer it to one of his races, but right before leaving decided to drive it instead to become more comfortable with it. You know what happens next (if you don't, click here, but not until you finish reading my post, man).

Actually, wikipedia tells the rest pretty well, so I'll just quote it:
"Since Dean's death, his Porsche 550 Spyder became infamous for being the vehicle that killed not only him, but for injuring and killing several others in the years following his death. In view of this, many have come to believe that the actor's vehicle and all of its parts were cursed. Legendary Hot Rodder George Barris bought the wreck for $2,500, only to have it slip off its trailer and break a mechanic's leg. Soon afterwards, Barris sold the engine and drive-train, respectively, to physicians Troy McHenry and William Eschrid. While racing against each other, the former would be killed instantly when his vehicle spun out of control and crashed into a tree, while the latter would be seriously injured when his vehicle rolled over while going into a curve. Barris later sold two tires, which malfunctioned as well. The tires, which were unharmed in Dean's accident, blew up simultaneously causing the buyer's automobile to go off the road. Subsequently, two young would-be thieves were injured while attempting to steal parts from the car. When one tried to steal the steering wheel from the Porsche, his arm was ripped open on a piece of jagged metal. Later, another man was injured while trying to steal the bloodstained front seat. This would be the final straw for Barris, who decided to store "Little Bastard" away, but was quickly persuaded by the California Highway Patrol (CHP) to lend the wrecked car to a highway safety exhibit.

The first exhibit from the CHP featuring the car ended unsuccessfully, as the garage storing the Spyder went up in flames, destroying everything except the car itself, which suffered almost no damage whatsoever from the fire. The second display, at a Sacramento High School, ended when the car fell, breaking a student's hip. "Little Bastard" caused problems while being transported several times. On the way to Salinas, the truck containing the vehicle lost control, causing the driver to fall out, only to be crushed by the Porsche after it fell off the back. On two separate occasions, once on a freeway and again in Oregon, the car came off other trucks, although no injuries were reported, another vehicle's windshield was shattered in Oregon. Its last use in a CHP exhibit was in 1959."

My favorite part is the last line: "In 1960, when being returned to George Barris in Los Angeles, California, the car mysteriously vanished. It has not been seen since."

One more crazy tidbit: it turns out, if Dean had ever actually been able to race the Spyder, he probably would have liked it. The Spyder brought Porsche more than a few racing victories. In fact, it was know as the "Giant Killer". Do you know the name of the last movie James Dean starred in? "Giant".