SHINY THING$ 0182 ✨

Story time. 

It’s driving season. A time when the breeze is light, the sun in shining, and the “secret” backroads aren’t yet filled with summer traffic. 

At Rally, our roots are in classic cars. — the kind that were the posters on the wall of every kid’s room and the ones that show up in those old nostalgic films, sometimes even serving as the main character.

Some automobiles have achieved the type of iconic status that keeps them forever intertwined with the legendary figures who once commanded them. Possibly none more so than James Dean and the Porsche 550 Spyder that was directly link to his rise to stardom, and tragically, his passing at age 24.

Nicknamed ‘Little Bastard,” you’ll likely see as many pictures of his silver Porsche as you see of him when you google his name. The story of Dean and his 550 Spyder, however, didn’t have a happy ending. At 5:45 PM on September 30, 1955, the actor’s Porsche hit a Ford Tudor sedan at an intersection, and became forever linked with tragedy.

While only one of Dean’s movies, “East of Eden,” had been released at the time of his death (with “Rebel Without a Cause” and “Giant” releasing shortly after), he was already on his way to superstardom. But, as morbid as it may seem, the crash made him a legend.

And thats where this week’s story begins… at the end.

Both before and after that history-defining crash, a string of eerie mishaps, including several fatal ones, fueled the belief that the car carried a supernatural curse. This week, in the 182nd edition of Shiny Thing$, we take a look at the eerie timeline of the James Dean 550 Spyder… the race car that defined a generation. 

🚨 One note: this week’s Shiny Thing$ contains accounts of vehicular accidents that some may find distressing. Reader discretion is advised.

September 21st, 1955 ::  

A known Porsche enthusiast, James Dean trades his Porsche Speedster for one of the new 550 Spyders from Porsche's US dealer Johnny von Neumann. He bought the car planning to test it out at the upcoming races at Salinas. Dean was thrilled when he got delivery of the street-ready race car, chassis number 550-0055. 

September 23, 1955 :: 

Actor and friend Alec Guinness reportedly warns Dean “If you get in that car, you will be found dead in it by this time next week.” Guinness would write in his diary “the sports car looked sinister to me . . . exhausted, hungry, feeling a little ill-tempered in spite of Dean’s kindness.” 

September 30th, 1955 (2:00 PM) :: 

On a Friday at the foot of Route 46, Dean is pushing the gas on the 550 Spyder with passenger and Porsche mechanic Rolf Wütherich. Police pulled over Dean and issued a speeding ticket just outside Bakersfield and remarked “slow it down.”

September 30th, 1955 (5:45 PM) :: 

Speeding at an estimated 85mph, Dean’s Porsche has no time to come to a stop as Donald Turnupseed, a young student from California Polytechnic State University driving a Ford Tudor, made a sudden turn on to Route 41. The sudden impact sent Turnupseed’s Ford almost 40 feet down the road and ejected Wütherich from the passenger seat of Dean’s Porsche. Dean was pronounced dead on arrival at the Paso Robles War Memorial hospital. 

September 30th, 1955 (6:30 PM) :: 

With police and onlookers on the scene, the crash is being cleaned up and the mailed wreck is being loaded onto the bed of a wrecker. During the process, it rolls off the back of the truck, severely injuring a mechanic standing nearby.

Summer 1956 :: 

Custom car builder George Barris buys the wreck as is. He keeps the chassis for display, but the salvageable  parts, including the engine and suspension, are sold to doctor and race car drivers William Eschrich. Eschrich installed the Porsche’s engine into his Lotus IX race car. In the first run with the new engine, the 1956 Pomona sports-car races, he crashes the Lotus and is seriously injured. 

October 1956 :: 

After the crash, Eschrich loaned some of Dean's parts to a friend who also happened to be a doctor and race car driver, Troy McHenry. While in a race with the new parts, McHenry hits a tree and is killed instantly. According to a statement from Eschrich after the crash, McHenry was using the transmission and suspension components from Dean's car at the time, according to a statement from Eschrich.

Late 1957 - 1959 :: 

The chassis and the remaining pieces of the wreck tour California for safety exhibitions in schools and community centers. The tour is littered with incidents, two of which include the car falling from it’s display at a Sacramento high school onto a student’s, breaking his leg and hip, and the most serious, a truck driver named George Barkus is reportedly killed when the wreck falls during transport from one location to another road-safety expo.

March 1959 :: 

While in storage in Fresno, the 550 Spyder mysteriously catches fire, though the blaze is contained and the flames avoid spreading to other vehicles in the same facility. At around the same time, the original purchaser of the wreck, George Barris, apparently had sold a pair of tires from the original 550 body and both reportedly blew at the same time, causing the new owner to skid off a California road into a ditch.

Late 1960 :: 

While being transported from Miami to Los Angeles, “Little Bastard” disappears without any explanation. Barris passed away in 2015 at age 89 with no trace of the car surfacing for over 50 years. Despite a million-dollar reward for information being offered in 2005, the whereabouts of the Porsche 550 Spyder remain unknown. 

Maybe it was for the best… 

Until next week…