James Dean's Porsche 550 Spyder, aka "Little Bastard," may be the most iconic and cursed car Hollywood has known.
How has this machine, tied with the fatal accident of this audacious actor, become etched in its tragic lore?
Let's delve into this eerie and uncanny story...
The Porsche 550 Spyder—Dean's vehicle during his fatal accident in 1955—was the manufacturer's first road-legal race car. It shaped Porsche into the racing giant we know today. James Dean, the amateur racer and actor, helped cement this legendary status.
Dean bought his new Porsche 550 Spyder just a week before that fateful accident. Outfitted with tartan seats, the number 130 displayed on the hood, and "Little Bastard" painted below the Porsche emblem.
This car was an icon in the making.
Upon seeing "Little Bastard," Dean's friend, British actor Sir Alec Guinness, warned him about the car.
The superstitious Alec cautioned him "not to get in the car" and that he would no longer be alive by the next week. Dean laughed and shrugged it off.
Guinness had an ominous feeling on seeing the Porsche and would later write in his diary: ‘The sports car looked sinister to me . . . exhausted, hungry, feeling a little ill-tempered despite Dean’s kindness...
...I heard myself saying in a voice I could hardly recognize as my own: ‘Please never get in it. . . if you get in that car, you will be found dead in it by this time next week.’”
On September 30, 1955, fate cast its dreadful shadow, leaving the world a little less bright. Dean put his Porsche to the test on the open roads on his way to a race. The end result was a gruesome accident at an intersection that took his life prematurely.
But the remnants of Little Bastard would continue to haunt those it encountered.
Dr. William Eschrid, a part-time racer, bought the remains, installed the Spyder engine into his Lotus IX, and shared some parts with Dr. Troy McHenry.
As history would have it, Eschrid crashed midway through a race, while McHenry lost control and fatally crashed into a tree at the very same race. Talk of the curse surged, pointing fingers at the transplanted pieces of the disastrous Spyder 550.
What's left of the "Little Bastard" was purchased by George Barris, a famous car customizer. Displayed at shows as a wreck, encounters with the car's shell allegedly left visitors with cuts and wounds.
There are other stories of Little Bastard’s post-accident life. The car is said to have fallen from its display while on show in Sacramento, breaking the hip of a bystander and reportedly falling on and killing George Barkus, the driver who transported it to a road safety expo.
Then, in 1960, destiny added another layer of mystery. As it was being transported for a safety exhibit in Miami, the car inexplicably disappeared. Over 60 years later, the whereabouts of the infamous cursed car remain unknown.
People like playing with fire.
In 2021, someone bought the transaxle from this car for $382,000