Objects that are claimed to be Haunted or Possessed. Part Four.

Objects that are claimed to be Haunted or Possessed. Part Four.


“Little Bastard” A Porsche 550 Spyder.

For the fourth part in this series we take a look at car and the bizarre happenings that surround it.

The 550 Spyder was Porsche’s first attempt at building a pure race car and was introduced at the Paris Auto Show in 1953. Although the 550 proved to be race winning car and could out race many cars which were more powerful, Porsche only ever made 90 of the 550 Spyders.

However it is not on one of the many race tracks that the 550 won races that makes this car so famous, the car is best known for an accident that happened on 30th September 1955 at the junction of California highways 41 and 46 not far from the small town of Chalome.

James Byron Dean 1931 - 1955.

Born in 1931 James Byron Dean’s acting career was relatively short, he only made three movies in which he played a starring role two of which were not released until after his death. To this day he is still idolised and thought to be one of the best actors of all time. Although he is best known for his portrayal of dysfunctional teenagers and rebel raisers, he also had a big interest in car racing and by 1955 had already entered and raced in several races, with pretty good results.

On September 21^st 1955 Dean traded in his Speedster for a brand new Porsche 550 Spyder (VIN 550-0055) which he numbered 130. Dean called in George Barris, of movie car fame, to customize the Porsche by adding two red stripes over the back wheels, adding tartan seats and putting the number 130 on the doors and boot and bonnet. The car was given a nickname by Dean’s language coach Bill Hickman “Little Bastard” and this was painted on the boot of the car. 

The Porsche was named "Little Bastard"

James Dean should have known that something was not right with the vehicle, immediately people close to James started to comment on the bad vibes they received from the vehicle. Meeting actor Alec Guinness outside a restaurant on 23rd September 1955 he showed his fellow actor the car, Guinness commented that the car had a sinister appearance and then told Dean “Get rid of that car, or you will be dead in a week”.

Alec Guinness was not the only person to have bad vibes about “little bastard” George Barris said “the car gave feelings of impending doom” while Ursula Andress his girlfriend at the time totally refused to get in the vehicle or go near it. Eartha Kitt and Dean’s friend Nick Adams both expressed their feelings of unease when around the car and both told Dean of their feelings towards it.

The actor had entered in a race at Salinas, California on 1st October 1955. On 30th September Dean and his Porsche trained mechanic Rolf Wütherich were at Competition Motors in Hollywood preparing the 550 Spyder for the upcoming race weekend. The initial plan was to have the race car trailered to the race track behind a Station Wagon which would transport Dean and the others to their destination. Wütherich aired his concerns that the car had not yet had enough “Break-in” miles and suggested that Dean should drive the car to the track and Wütherich would accompany him in the vehicle. Dean agreed with this suggestion and once ready they set off on their journey to Salinas with the others following behind in the Station Wagon.

At 15:30 local police pulled over the Porsche that Dean was driving and he was issued with a speeding ticket, he had been travelling at 65 in a 45 zone.

At 15:59 23-year-old Cal Poly student named Donald Turnupseed was driving home in 1950 Ford Custom, at the intersection of California highways 41 and 46 the two cars collided.

The wreckage of James Dean's car left and Donald Turnupseed's car on the right.

Dean was pinned in the Porsche Spyder suffering amongst other injuries a broken neck, his passenger Wütherich was thrown clear out of the car and suffered a broken leg, broken jaw and a few minor internal injuries, while Tunupseed suffered only a few minor injuries and refused hospital treatment.

James Dean was removed from the vehicle but died from his injuries at the scene.

It was just seven days since Dean had met Alec Guinness outside that restaurant and Guinness had given Dean the warning about getting rid of “Little Bastard”

It is at this point where the tale of “Little Bastard” takes a creepy twist.

The crumpled and twisted wreckage of the Spyder was purchased by George Barris, and when it arrived at his garage it is alleged to have fell, breaking the leg of one of the mechanics in the garage. Barris stripped some of the parts from the vehicle and the parts that had survived the crash were sold off, the engine was sold to Troy McHenry and the chassis to William Eschrid, both prominent doctors and racing enthusiasts. Two of the tires that survived the accident were sold off to a gentleman from New York.

Both McHenry and Eschrid fitted the parts of “Little Bastard that they had bought from Barris to their own race cars, on October 21st 1956 they were both racing, McHenry’s Porsche Spyder spun out of control and collided with a tree, the impact killed McHenry instantly. Eschrid was seriously injured when he lost control of the car he was racing, the car over turned as he went around a curve.

The gentleman from New York who had purchased the tyres had a lucky escape when he lost control of his car and ended up in a ditch, witnesses to this accident all describe two tires of the vehicle had blown at the exact time, these were “Little Bastards” Tires.

There is also a report that while the car was in storage two wannabe thieves or souvenir collectors broke in and tried to remove parts of the car, the first one ripped his arm open while trying to remove the steering wheel and the second sustained injuries while trying to remove the blood stained upholstery.

James Dean & Rolf Wütherich on the day of the accident.

The wreckage was loaned by Barris to the California Highways Patrol as part of their highway safety exhibit. The first exhibit was unsuccessful as the garage it was being housed in caught fire, the garage was severely damaged but “Little Bastard” survived unscathed.

It was while en-route to one of these exhibits that “Little Bastard” was involved in a further fatality. The vehicle was being transported back to Salinas, the truck driver lost control of the truck, the driver was thrown free from the cab only to be crushed by “Little Bastard” as it fell from the flat bed.

It is also said that on the anniversary of Dean’s death while the car was on display in Sacramento, a bolt that was holding the car to the pedestal snapped and the car slipped, injuring a student who was looking at the car.

The 550 also fell off a transporter a further two times while being moved around California freeways, however on these two occasions no one was injured.

There were several further incidents that involved the 550 and by now the California Highway Patrol were themselves convinced that all was not right with the wreckage of Dean’s car, they decided to return the car to Barris. It was while the car was being transported back to Barris that it disappeared.

James Dean 1931-1955 RIP

To this day no one is really sure what happened to “Little Bastard”, some people say that a member of Dean’s family took possession of the vehicle and hid it away while others say that Barris himself locked the vehicle away so it could not hurt anyone else.

The only part of the James Dean’s Porsche 550 Spyder to still be able to be viewed is apparently on display in an auto museum in Illinois, no one knows how this museum came to get their hands on the original door of James Dean’s Porsche 550 Spyder but big rewards have been offered to anybody who can find what is left of the wreckage of “Little Bastard”.

It is hard to say if this car was possessed, haunted or even just cursed but there was way too many accidents surrounding this car and the parts that were salvaged from it for it to be just coincidence, add that to the warnings of bad vibes about the car from people close to James Dean, you have to accept the possibility that something was not right about this vehicle.


If only James Dean had listened to Alec Guinness’s warning?

Where Highways 41 & 46 join, the location of the accident.

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