(PCM) As we look back on the tragic passing of 24-year old actor James Dean, who died as a result of injuries suffered during a car accident on September 30, 1955, there has been some new light shed on the mysterious disappearance of his Porsche Spyder that was involved in the horrific crash. There has been a long-standing rumor that the car, which Dean nicknamed “Little Bastard” is cursed as several strange incidents have occurred surrounding the car and its’ internal and external parts.
Right after the accident, the car is said to have rolled off the back of a tow truck crushing the legs of a mechanic who was standing nearby and when the car was broken down into parts and sold to buyers all over the country, even more strange incidents began to occur. The car’s engine, transmission and tires were all placed into other cars that were each involved in deadly crashes, and a truck carrying the Spyder’s chassis to a highway-safety exhibition skidded off the road, killing its driver. Since that time period, the additional remains of the car have mysteriously vanished from the accident scene and they have yet to be seen again. That is perhaps until now, as a new mystery man has come forward and revealed that he may just know the whereabouts of Dean’s cursed “Little Bastard”.
During the 50th anniversary remembrance of Dean’s death back in 2005, Chicago’s Volo Auto Museum offered up a reward of $1 million to anyone who was willing to come forward with information about the cars whereabouts and allow them to purchase. The museum has received many tips over the years, but have thus far still been unable to locate the actual car, however just this year a man from Whatcom County, Washington contacted the museum and revealed that when he was a young boy in the 1960’s he witnessed a car being hidden behind the false wall of a building. The man’s story was incredibly detailed and he even recalled cutting his hand on a part of the vehicle at the time.
The man was asked to submit to a polygraph test and passed, however he does not own the building and has zero claim on the car that could be resting inside. Currently, the location is still being kept secret and both the man and the museum are trying work out some sort of agreement in regards to the $1 million in reward cash. There is no official paperwork on the table in regards to who actually owns the car and the museum is trying desperately to hash out the ownership issues so, that they can finally possibly unearth the car. We certainly hope this mystery can finally come to an end!
Details Surrounding The Death Of James Dean ( via History.com)
At 5:45 PM on this day in 1955, 24-year-old actor James Dean is killed in Cholame, California, when the Porsche he is driving hits a Ford Tudor sedan at an intersection. The driver of the other car, 23-year-old California Polytechnic State University student Donald Turnupseed, was dazed but mostly uninjured; Dean’s passenger, German Porsche mechanic Rolf Wütherich was badly injured but survived. Only one of Dean’s movies, “East of Eden,” had been released at the time of his death (“Rebel Without a Cause” and “Giant” opened shortly afterward), but he was already on his way to superstardom–and the crash made him a legend.
James Dean loved racing cars, and in fact he and his brand-new, $7000 Porsche Spyder convertible were on their way to a race in Salinas, 90 miles south of San Francisco. Witnesses maintained that Dean hadn’t been speeding at the time of the accident–in fact, Turnupseed had made a left turn right into the Spyder’s path–but some people point out that he must have been driving awfully fast: He’d gotten a speeding ticket in Bakersfield, 150 miles from the crash site, at 3:30 p.m. and then had stopped at a diner for a Coke, which meant that he’d covered quite a distance in a relatively short period of time. Still, the gathering twilight and the glare from the setting sun would have made it impossible for Turnupseed to see the Porsche coming no matter how fast it was going.