Part of James Dean's Porsche Discovered 65 Years After Crash
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ย. 2020
- The legend of James Dean is perhaps larger than his life, which was cut short at the tender age of 24.
Dean is remembered for the handful of films in which he appeared, as well as the promise he showed as an actor. But he was also recognized as an avid racer of cars, and his death in a crash occurred on his way to a race in California.
Dean was driving a Porsche 550 Spyder which, in 1955, cost him $7,000. The legendary vehicle has had a strange journey since its owner’s death, last seen in public in 1960 before being stolen from a locked trailer - never to be heard from again.
That is, until now. Reports have surfaced that a key component of the 550 Spyder has been discovered in rural Massachusetts. According to a press release, the “original and complete transaxle assembly will see the light of day after being stored in a wooden crate and hidden from public view for over 30 years.”
Discovered by a Porsche collector, the assembly is said to be documented with the factory serial number associated with Dean’s vehicle. It is now said to be the only verifiable part of the 550 Spyder that still exists and could be on display and viewable to the public. That’s because the owners may sell it to a museum or collection.
According to Sports Car Digest, the long-ago-stolen chassis has never resurfaced, despite persistent rumors over the years relating to its whereabouts. Likewise, the original engine is thought to be somewhere in California, but has not been seen for decades. That’s why, as the only other permanently traceable component, the discovery of the gearbox assembly is so exciting.
Sept. 30 marked the 65th anniversary of James Dean’s death. - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
I found a lug nut off a truck when I was 12 in 1964. Sold it last year for $3.25 on eBay. God is good !!
It’s well documented that this was still in circulation,for a minute there I was excited that they had found something else
Dean was on his way to a race in Monterrey, CA. Two other competitors bought parts salvaged from the Dean Porsche. One guy bought the two front tires; he suffered a blowout and crashed, sustaining serious injuries. The other fellow bought this transaxle. He also crashed and nearly died.
Handle that thing with care. The curse is real.
meh. psyching yourself out is what’s real.
😆😆😆😆😆😆😆
Still waiting on the actual car. Known about the drivetrain for years now.
I was fortunate to see that wrecked car when it was touring! I still remember that display today!
I never knew who James Dean was when I saw the car!
You saw the fake one. Go back and look at the original picture.
Who doesn't know who James Dean was?
My good friend had this for years. It was not lost. Likewise, the owner of the engine is known. Only the whereabouts of the chassis are a mystery.
The engine was sold to a doctor that raced the same kind of car and someone else that I think raced got the transaxle at that time
..and the missing chassis is not the one that was lost while being transported around for display.
Wasnt the same car, was a lotus
It's not part of the car, but if you want to see his goggles, that hung on a local farmers porch for many years. Highway 46 in CA. Blackwells corner. James Dean's last stop.
Since it's technically part of a stolen vehicle the "owner" can't really sell it?
Juan Esteban Agree if the car was stolen out of a trailer while on display as he says in this video the the trans axle can not be sold and it would be considered part of a stolen car.
George Barris owned the car after the crash and a few parts were sold prior to going on tour and being stolen.
@@jwallen158 this.
Everything that was worth anything was sold from the car by George Barris the engine, the transaxle was sold only the twisted body was the only thing misplaced Barris thinks it was scrapped by accident or someone took it but that transaxle was sold legit it was never stolenth-cam.com/video/o7URktEogSg/w-d-xo.html
@@79tazman Scrapped by accident, the sealed trailer arrived and the body was claimed to have disappeared enroute. According to Barris logic bank robberies don't exist they are simply incidence of banks that misplaced money haha. Doctoring a manifest to reflect the new seal instead of the original # would not have been that difficult. Most likely explanation is a pr stunt that got too big so the body stayed "lost".
The car on display is not the car Dean was killed in @1:12, the real car has much worse damage at @1:22 is the death car!
I didn't know that, thanks for the history lesson, I knew something was odd, an you said exactly what I needed to know.
Yes they are the same car. After George Barris purchased the car, he covered the original damage with faked body panels to hide how how terrifying it looked so it could be put on display.
@@xxxbbbqqq yes this is the real story
Sold for nearly $400,000 !
That’s the piece that fell on that guys toe and crushed it , the curse lives
Oh yeah I'm going to run out and spend Money at a Museum to look at a Trans-Axle for a Porsche?
" I DON'T THINK SO"
"It is said to be...." says it all, if not less.
James Dean had done a public service announcement about driving safely about a month before this terrible accident happened
I remember seeing that. Too ironic.
@@SilentKnight43 sad thing is I dont think the guy who hit James Deans car, probably didnt see it for a fraction of a second, being the Porsche was small fast and late in the day the color of the car was blending in as the same color as the road
@@willielarimer7170 Silver/gray would be very hard to see, especially if the sun was at a steep angle.
@@SilentKnight43 See my latest comment...there have been a few books written about this incident.
@@willielarimer7170 Yeah I've seen recreations done and sun blindness was considered a major cause. At the time much press (no scientific testing of coarse) simply concluded oh young guy racing car must be speeding. Actual speed was likely only 55-65mph. I've come across stories saying he was cited for speeding, it was only for going 65 in a 55. Others mention the crew following him cited as speeding 20 over the limit. Which was still 65 mph vehicles with a trailer then had a 45 mph speed limit not 55.
Why exactly would anyone want a part of this car??
It matters not who previously owned it, it's a piece of a car which someone died in ffs..
Exactly some people are morbid. When John dillenger died people were dipping handkerchief and other clothing into his blood to take as souvenirs.
This piece was sold for $382,000 on May 29, 2021 on Bring a Trailer, the premier online cars and things website.
Even then, it's provenance was under question till the end of an epic auction.
george barris has said he retrieved the car and was showing it when it was stolen , insurance paid off on the car a few years before george died i saw an interview when he said he had the car in storage
The car he had was a fake that was beat up by hand, you can tell it looks way different than the crashed car.
George Barris was a “showman”. You have take what he said with healthy skepticism.
@@mattskustomkreations showman, liar, no talent bum. His brother Sam was the creative one, George just took pictures and ran the business
People saying it’s cursed 😂😂
It’s 1950’s technology getting used way past it’s limit on skinny tyres stopping with drum brakes by guys pushing the envelope in a time where men were men.
But no,it has a curse on it as that sounds better!
A time when men were men, and women liked them that way.
Funny you'd mention a "curse"...
The reason I say so, is because several historical objects come to mind that are also purportedly cursed... I guess the Hope Diamond is the "biggy".
But I have read that a couple things retrieved out of Hank Seniors blue Cadillac have "brought bad luck" to the people that swiped them from the car when it was in impound...
Also have read that things taken from the Bonnie and Clyde Ford were "unlucky", etc...
Who knows?
One thing's for certain... The world is a weird-ass place.
Hearing the history of what's happened to parts of this cursed car
I hope it stays in a museum!
I agree
Poor museum. Probably gonna go bankrupt.
Don’t tell me the last place the car was stored is in Wuhan....
It’s at the haunted museum in Vegas. Glad that I got to see it and visit him
Love to see the body of the car.
I thought that a few years after Dean's death his Machinac said that they had replaced the original transaxle and cradle with a specialized Race one and the original was sold so if that is true then that transaxle wasn't in the car when it wrecked the same goes for the front suspension it was replaced with racing parts specially built for the car.
Only three of the Dean vehicle's engines and two of the transaxles are known to still exist.
Porsche needed a picture of Vampira and Dean in the car for advertising
Interesting.......................... 👍👍👍
My father owns the Porsche badging off of the car. My great uncle was a mechanic that worked for Mr. Dean when he was still alive. They are held in a locking container in the top shelf of my fathers closet. I have seen them once, gold Porsche lettering from the rear, as well as the larger rear crest. Heavily scratched but in otherwise good condition.
That chassy or one made to look exactly like it was in Lubbock , Tx. About 20 years ago. I drove by it four times a day dropping my wife of at work. Always wanted to stop , but just never got the chance.
Let me guess, people will pay money to buy tickets to go view that transaxle. Elvis Presley might have shaken my hand once, tickets on sale now. Get it while it's hot.
Good one lets shake hands hahaha
I'll take 2. And used toilet paper from him?
I heard the Engine from this car was put in another Speedster Race Car which the Driver had a horrific crash the 1st time raced it.
2 people used parts from car, and were hurt, i also heard that the California highway patrol used the car in a safty display to get people to slow down and some teenager got hurt because the thing fell off truck and hit him
There are probably more bits of Dean's car in circulation than of all the Porsches ever made, just as there were pieces of the 'True Cross' centuries ago (and some are still around).
Jimmy didn't know what he was going to start.
Wow Ric, syntax much?
Yikes. Awkward.
@@willielarimer7170 That much is true.
I wonder how many, if any, parts or particles of either car (Dean's Porsche, or the Ford) are still laying scattered around the crash site?
There are no remnants of anything related to the crash today. the original road ( highway 41 and 46) intersection has been regraded and altered by Caltrans to help the flow of traffic.
@@96chevydually6.5L I'd imagine that would certainly obscure it, but I'd also imagine that at least some nuts, bolts, paint chips and other tiny debris might remain buried... What with all of the supposed Science we allegedly have today, it'd be fun to see one of the Tech Oligarchs try to find something... Instead of them perpetrating this Luciferian Ritual they're pulling currently 😬
@@slicksnewonenow still very doubtful. 66 years of weather, time, souvenir hunters, road reconstruction have all taken their share of any relics that remained. I used to live close to that site and passed by it more times than I could count. There have been so many wrecks on that particular stretch of road that they call it blood alley.
Tried to buy the ex Tony Jones 1956 Grand Prix Blue 550 Spyder from Ted Herbert for around the $80K mark....Alan Hamilton and l were in the running.
Sadly, l lost out.
My mentor Lindsay Fox eventually acquired the car....l asked Brian Tanti one day when l visited my old factory location where Lindsay kept his original collection in back of, what became of the race 'battered' Spyder?
Brian, a master craftsman and second curator of the Fox collection, shared with me that he was entrusted to make a 'new' skin.
To which l kindly suggested that the skin should be put back.....that and only can only keep the 'true spirit' of the car together! imho
It's just a car part! Nothing more
The car has been kept in hiding like the Bullitt Mustang was.
I think I have an old radio knob from that car.
I also just discovered a part of a hamburger behind the bin 22 years after I ate it.
Some still say the car was cursed?...(Cue Dark Shadows theme here)
Here is a video about the Little Bastard. that was the name of the car th-cam.com/video/o7URktEogSg/w-d-xo.html
That was all made up by George Barris to get the looks.
@@ksavage681 Looking back at various events, it held true. Even Alec Guiness told him if he got in that car, he'd be dead in a week. It happened just that way.
It's a real stretch to associate that transaxel with Dean's car. It does not have the same serial number as the engine.
So, that's contraband then!?!
......I'm a rich un , Vic....
There's a place called Claude's Buggies (now CB Performance) in Farmersville, CA, that I once went to looking for a massive allen wrench, and in the back of the shop, they had what looked like a wrecked Spider, very similar to the one in the video. Not sure if it's still there, or if it was moved since then. I last saw the wreckage there in 1988, and since COVID, I have not been able to step foot in there. The place is closed to the public last I saw, but are taking orders via phone and drive up service. If I can ever get in there, I will ask and look around. Doubtful after all this time, but it couldn't hurt to sniff around...
Very cool Jack..you never know..in the confusion it could have been towed anywhere back then...
From 1988 to covid.......big gap there buddy
@@bluebird8004 I found the wrench, no need to go back :)
If the chassis was stolen if it found it means someone has been buying stolen things so may get into trouble for recieving and if serail number is on be easly traced so no one will come forward with it case they get in trouble with law
Someone inherited a Harley Davidson in a will. Not sure about relatives or what. Anyway the guy receiving the Harley stored it in his garage for sometime, until he thought he would have a look at it and get it going. After assessing the bike's roadworthiness, he determined that certain parts were needed to make it rideable. He made a note of the chasis and engine numbers for ordering parts. The Harley dealers took the information and confirmed an approx delivery date. Not long after the call they rang back asking him to confirm the chasis and engine numbers. He went out somewhat peeved, and related them to Harley. Later another phone call came about the order, this time there was an American voice at the other end of the line. Again he was asked to confirm the numbers, this time he spoke back with a little anger. This was understood, he was asked to look in a certain place to see if there was something there. There was, it was a small plate inside the chasis. He cleaned it off enough to read what it said. "This bike was presented to James Dean by Elvis Preseley date (1958 I think)". He confirmed this to Harley who waited on the line for some minutes while the guy cleaned it off. They offered to transport him, his family over to America, with the bike, they had been looking for this particular bike for years. They Built him a new one, put him and his family in a Hotel, and he was allowed to follow his bike being built along the assembly line, they also put a small plaque in it refering to the long lost return of a valued bike. They had a great time too apparently, they were well ,looked after and they didn't to pay for a thing. Source ? Sandy Toksvig on LBC Radio, some ten years ago from Sept 2021, roughly. Am going to cut and past this and keep it, because I love this story :) All true.
Would have been earlier. Dean died in Sept 1955.
@@Edgy01 I could have looked that up. Am sure it was near the date I mentioned, so may have been close to 55 or 4 maybe. Perhaps Harley Davidson can confirm this. The story is a true one though. Sounds like like you don't believe it.
I believe the transmission was sold to a doctor and he used it in his car till he crashed it.
The car was totalled. What are you talking about?
I heard the entire car was discovered in Washington state.
The goggles he was wearing that day are at the store called his last stop. It’s on the corner of 33 and 46 in Kern co California.
Get out to the accident site with a metal detector and you’ll find pieces
Only George Barris could tell where are the last remains of "Little Bastard", but unfortunately he died 2015.
Should go back to owner when it was stolen
The owner of the car (Barris) likely claimed it stolen and collected the insurance. The car might've been crushed, dumped in a lake, sealed in a vault... who knows
The car was wrecked there was no real value to it at that time everything that was worth something like the engine and transaxle was sold the rest was twisted metal no Insurance company would of insured it back then.
Barris would of never pull a insurance scam. What are you talking about? The car was loaded and was supposed to be shipped somewhere and it did not make it some think it was brought to a scrap yard and scraped by mistake or someone took it for themselves but it has not been around so I think it was scrapped by accident but it was not a insurance scam. No insurance company would insure a twisted hunk of steel at that time it had no value and everything of valve was sold from the car.
that was never lost check the older docs its cursed
Expensive transaxle, I would not care to see it even if they pay me.
I wonder how many years its gonna be finding human remains from 9-11 ?
does someone really give a dam!???????????
Some people reported that car has a course.
Curse*
Curse*
Oh grettal..
@@eder7468 yes but what corsed the currse. 🇬🇧👍❓
This content is wrong... it was never found or missing .. it has been handed down to owner to owner ... jack styles had it since 1990
The body of the car or the trans/axle? Big news if true.
The body is missing the engine and transaxle was never missing it was sold after the crash but the mangled body became missing. Here is a video about it th-cam.com/video/o7URktEogSg/w-d-xo.html
Did anybody notice the persons head sticking up at the rear of the car?? James Deans ghost? lol
Dam it all,don't make jokes about our little Jimmy ghost,this is not funny,poor Jimmy,hope he comes and spooks you tonight,ouch oweeeeee
The car is in Australia and it is in original crashed condition including its still complete drive train!
Can you tell more about the car where he is?
If it was stolen from the wreckage, I imagine it belongs to the rightful owners of the wreck🤔
The car was owned by George Barris, he bought it after the wreck, he sold off every usable part, who bought those parts is very well documented. It is just the shell and chassis that is " missing" though it is widely believed Barris either destroyed or hid it.
display and view able to public? excited? cmon dude.
So... What made him a legend is he crashed and died? if he lived he would have been just another actor.
Thats exactly how it works. You need to die first, young that is, so people can speculate how Out-of-this-world good he or she was and the sky was the limit and no one will ever come close yadayada.
If I was recalled I hear that car has bad juju? 🤔
Dean was a medicocre driver and had bad eyesight. This "curse" crap is exactly that: crap. Guys bought parts off a wrecked race car and had bad crashes. A guy hurt himself loading the wreck onto a trailer. Shocker. Next thing you know, they'll say smoking is bad for you.
Keep the speedlimit live longer
The available evidence is that James Dean was not responsible for the crash. He was driving along a road when a drunk driver turned onto a side road, without checking for oncoming traffic. Dean just happened to be in the path of that car. It could have been anyone
@@pashakdescilly7517 Not a drunk Driver!...just a junior college student, and a young Navy vet named Donald Turnipseed....he was driving home, and did indeed begin to turn left, into the path of Deans very small, hard to see sports car, in dusky conditions.....Some evidence indicates that Dean had been speeding, and earlier in the evening, he had been issued a speeding ticket!...But the speedometer was stuck at 55mph, which was basically the limit , when the accident happened...Dean had a carload of his friends following him, and they came upon the scene just a few minutes after it happened...James Dean had suffered multiple injuries ,including a broken neck, and likely died at the scene...one of his buddies from the trailing car, held Dean in his arms, while he expired....Here is an interesting thing...the man holding Dean, was a professional stunt driver in Hollywood...he was the guy driving that Dodge Charger, chasing Steve McQueen all over Hell, in the movie Bullit!!!...kinda weird stuff, right?
Was the stunt driver Bud Ekins
There is a video on TH-cam saying James Dean was getting road head from the passenger, and was probably the reason for the crash. The guy telling the story seemed pretty credible. It was the first time I heard that version of the accident.
He could have been reaching for a cigarette. The crash was entirely likely even if Dean was paying close attention to the road. The head theory is just fantasy
@@gbaker9295 IDK... if you read the police report the passenger of the crash kinda hints to something going on. But who knows. Either way it was an unfortunate accident.
The most credible story I heard is that an oncoming driver turned across Dean to go onto a side road. He was either drunk or simply did not see James Dean's little Porsche
too bad no one bothered to keep the steering wheel which actually broke james neck...that would be a great collectable....the steering wheel that killed james dean.
Ohio State Fair ...Left Front Fender Displayed..? .What ?..
1968 or 1967
So the transaxel has out lived James Dean .... all hail the transaxel. LOL
Hahaha some rich dushbag will keep it his living room next to elvises underwear’s
Hail transaxle, hail!!!
I'd rather not go anywhere near that trans axle. The curse ordeal with the car and its parts is too sketchy
Woo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo 👍🏼😎💕💕🌹🌹🌹
What did this now show me.. Absolutely fukkol... Nothing
Great.... maybe they can find a shock absorber and send it to the Smithsonian.
7 grand in today’s usd would be around $71,000
Yes, it was a bit over double the price of a regular nice car back then.
That Car Looks Horrific R.I.P.
Light weight aluminum shell body
Wow
Who ever owns the actual car maybe dead by now. That’s why it never been published up until now.
Yooooo what for real??
2nd comment?
...who cares?!? It's an old story,just the money matters. That sucks
Parts of the cars outerbody were chipped away by fans when the car was taken on tour around the USA, fans could even sit in the driver's seat, then it mysteriously disappeared, my bets it was taken by individuals who then sold it on to a private collector, were it resides now, macabre if you ask me , I often wounder if Dean's skeleton is still their,theve been so many things going on around Jim's gravesite I wonder, wish they let him rest in peace, all he ever was ,was a munmeys boy, who wanted a new mummey cause his mummey passed away , their stems the seed of his talent, because he used to playact to his mummey as a child.before her death. At least their together now, God bless.
Car that was shown on displays is NOT the original car at all.
What makes you say that,to my knowledge it was purchased a wreck then put together then displayed,were did you here that but was not the car,
What is a mummey?
Mummy. as in Mum, and Jim was a mummy's boy,meaning he was super close to his mum which he was before she passed away
@@seanstewart6893 ahhh thank you for explaining.
Duh, scrap iron.
Looking at the prehistoric swing-axle design,;
its not difficult to imagine how the car crashed and killed James.
Years later, Ralph Nader took on the Chevrolet auto manufacturer, regarding safety issues associated with the early Corvair models. Even after revisions were made to correct the design, the public image was destroyed, and Corvair sales never recovered.
Nearly all Porsches had this until quite recently !
@@manofweed1 amd bmws till the 2000’s.
Sorry Buds, but you seriously don't know what a "swing axle" is.
Go home, research it, apologize, and then we'll discuss it like educated men.
Smh.
Ralph Nader didn't kill the Corvair, Lee Iacoca did.
The Corvair, the Ford Falcon and the Plymouth Valiant were all intended to compete price wise with Volkswagen. The Falcon did that best because it was a very conventional design. Ford could build Falsons more cheaply than Chevrolet could build Corvairs.
@@michaelwalter3399,
What about the Ford Mustang?
It was inspired by the Corvair.
Plenty of people participated in the demise of vehicles of that era, which harbored safety flaws.
However, Nader was the only attorney who sought to correct the problem. In fact, he actually wrote a book about it ... "Unsafe At Any Speed".
In it, Ralph shed light on the Corvair's swing axle rear suspension, which he claimed to be responsible for catastrophic roll-overs.
His efforts spawned a new government agency, the NHTSA, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration after legal hearings considered Nader's own damning testimonies against the Corvair and similarly equipped vehicles.
The point being, that James Dean's Porsche utilized the same "swing axle rear suspension" design that was known to have flaws that contributed to passenger deaths.
Sorry about his death - very tragic, but he couldn't act. Everyone thought he was a great actor because he was good looking. Like Marilyn Monroe was pretty but couldn't act for shit. Kanye West is a way better actor than either of em'. Yeah, Kanye
I think Dean's acting, what I've seen of it, is very pretentious and overall completely sucky.
Huh? Dean had a transexual in his car?
ANY PARTS OF THAT CAR SHOULD BE DESTROYED YOU REALLY NEED NOT EVEN LAY EYES ON THE CAR'S PART'S, THIS CAR IS ALIVE BEYOND YOUR UNDERSTANDING LIKE CHRISTEEN THIS IS A FACT LEAVE IT BE.🆎☯️ CONSENCREATED SPACIAL AFFAIRS.
Time for your meds!
Give me a break!
I have a friend who is addicted to drinking brake fluid....but, he say's he can stop anytime.
James Dean was one of the worst actors I ever seen. It was hard watching Rebel without a Cause. I stopped watching half way.
They should auction the transmission for a million dollars. SOme idiot will pay it.
The real tragety was James Dean died before he had a chance to learn how to act.
Nobody cares
Then why you here?
Just to let you know that nobody cares.
👎