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James Byron Dean, American actor (1931-1955) starred in movies such as Rebel without a Cause, East of Eden and Giant. He had a cult following and after his death his headstone was stolen twice and had to be replaced in 1985 due to vandalism.
Dean had a passion for car racing and he came second in the Palm Springs road racing in 1956. He was banned from racing under his contract whilst making the film Giant. Whilst working on the set of Rebel without a Cause he traded in his Porsche speedster for the infamous silver Porsche 550 Spider which came to be known as ‘Little B*****d’.
Many People had reservations about the car, including fellow actor Alec Guinness, who reportedly told Dean, ‘never get that car!’
Car designer of the Batmobile, George Barris or Kustomizer King said that the car gave him ‘a weird feeling of impending doom.’
Despite warnings Dean drove the car to the races at Salinas CA. It was on this journey that people’s anxieties about the sports car were proven legitimate. It was to be Dean’s last drive. The Porsche was involved in a head on collision with a 1950’s Ford Custom Coupe killing the young actor. Dean was taken to Paso Robles War Memorial Hospital and pronounced dead on arrival.
The curse of Little B*****d continued when a young kid tried to steal the car’s steering wheel and slipped, severely lacerating his arm.
Barris bought the shell of the car for $2,500 after Dean’s Death; it had been stripped of parts by two doctors Eschrid and McHenry. The physicians both owned Spyders and it is said that McHenry’s car containing the engine of Little B*****d when it went out of control and hit a tree during a race in 1956.
Barris’ mechanic broke both his legs when the Porsche fell on him. Barris also sold two of the car’s tyres and in less than a week the tyres had simultaneously exploded. Barris then loaned the wrecked car to California Highway Patrol and whilst housed in a garage in Fresno the garage burnt to the ground. Remarkably the Spyder survived unscathed.
When the car was at an exhibition in Sacramento it fell from its display causing injury and then George Barkuis was killed whilst hauling the Spyder. Accidents went on until 1960 when the Porsche went to Miami for a safety exhibition. En route to LA the Spyder mysteriously disappeared. It is said that the whereabouts of the car is still a mystery today. There have been claims of ghostly sightings of the car on the road where Dean was killed.
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