james dean car

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: ag028@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Barbara Hamel)
Subject: Re: James Dean's Car
Date: Thu, 23 Mar 1995 10:20:54 GMT

Reading through some old news stories about James Dean I found out that,
yes, his death car was stolen.  But there's more to the story than just 
that.  Much more.

I cribbed the following from a story that appeared in _The Daily Mail_ on
Sept 10 1994.  James Dean was killed in a car crash on Sept 30 1955 when
his new Porsche Spyder crashed head on into another car.  Dean's passenger
was thrown from the car but Dean was pinned inside.  He later died in the
ambulance on the way to the hospital.

After the accident, many fans refused to believe Dean was dead and a
story circulated that he was still alive although terribly disfigured.
In true UL fashion, this story took on a life of its own.

I won't go into all the James Dean as a cult idol stuff (we've heard it
all before) except to say his mystique has staying power.  For example,
his tombstone was stolen twice in 1983 and in 1985 had to be replaced
because of damage done by fans.

Ah, but you're here for the car story, aren't you?  Very well.  Turn the
lights down low and move closer to the monitor.

After his untimely demise, Dean's Porsche was sold to a second-hand car
dealer who put it on public view (supposedly in support of a campaign for
road safety).  He charged the public twenty-five cents to look at it.

Car designer George Barris next bought the car and planned to sell it for
parts.  When the car was delivered to his yard, it rolled back off the
truck and broke a mechanic's legs.

Troy McHenry, a Beverly Hills doctor, bought the Dean engine and used it 
to replace the engine in his Porsche.  The doctor was killed in a crash the
first time he took the car out.

Another unnamed doctor bought the Dean transmission.  He too was later 
seriously injured in a car crash.

An unnamed New Yorker bought two of the Dean tires.  His car crashed when
both tires mysteriously blew out at the same time.

The shell of the Dean car was being transported to a road safety exhibition
in Salinas when the truck skidded and crashed.  The driver was killed.

Stolen from the scene of that fatal accident was the shell of James Dean's
car.  It's never been recovered.

Another version re the disappearance of the shell was reported in an
_Los Angeles Times_ article on Oct 30 1989.  George Barris (the guy who
sold the car for parts) was quoted as saying the last time he saw the shell
was when he exhibited it in Florida in 1958.  The car was loaded on a truck
afterwards but eight days later when the truck arrived at its destination,
the car wasn't there.  No mention of an accident.

You decide.

Barbara "Dean nicknamed the car 'Little Bastard' -- maybe 'Christine'
would have been a tadge more accurate" Hamel

January 25, 1995