James Dean’s Cursed Car: The True Story of the Porsche 550 Spyder Known as ‘Little Bastard’

 It began with a warning. Just days before James Dean’s fatal crash in his Porsche 550 Spyder, actor Alec Guinness claimed to have seen something ominous in the car’s aura — telling Dean he’d be dead within a week if he drove it. The prophecy proved chillingly accurate. But the events to follow were even stranger: a trail of wreckage, injury, and death linked to the twisted remains of the car known as Little Bastard. Was it a coincidence, or something darker? This is the true story of a Hollywood icon, a cursed machine, and a legacy that refuses to die.

The Birth of Little Bastard

James Dean wasn’t just a rising star — he was a racer. Between film shoots, he competed in amateur road races, chasing speed with the same intensity he brought to the screen. In 1955, flush with success from East of Eden and Rebel Without a Cause, Dean acquired a Porsche 550 Spyder: a low-slung, silver machine built for the track, not the boulevard.

He had it customized. The number 130 was painted on the hood and doors. And on the rear, in script reportedly added by customizer George Barris, the nickname: Little Bastard. Whether it was a jab at Warner Bros. executive Jack Warner — who had forbidden Dean from racing while filming — or a nod to Dean’s own rebellious nature, the name stuck.
The car was fast. Unforgiving. And, as some would later claim, cursed from the start.

From Custom Job to Cursed Relic

The Porsche 550 Spyder was never meant to be subtle. Sleek, silver, and stripped for speed, it stood out even before it earned its nickname. The car weighed just 1,212 pounds — astonishingly light even by mid-century standards, and a reminder of how little stood between driver and disaster. The moniker Little Bastard was emblazoned on the rear — an irreverent touch that matched Dean’s persona. While Barris didn’t personally paint the nickname, the car passed through his shop for customisation, and the signwriter who added Little Bastard and the racing numbers worked next door. The Porsche’s final look was born in that shared creative orbit — an intersection of rebellion, speed, and style that now feels eerily fated.

Then came the crash.

The wreck was declared a total loss and sent to a salvage yard in Burbank. There, Southern California racer Dr. William Eschrich purchased the remains and stripped them for parts. He installed the Porsche’s engine into his Lotus IX race car and loaned the transmission and suspension components to fellow racer Dr. Troy Lee McHenry.

Both men entered the 1956 Pomona sports-car races — and both crashed.

• Eschrich survived, though his Lotus was totalled.
• McHenry was killed when his car ( another Porsche 550 Spyder) struck a tree on the first lap.

These incidents are documented, not speculative. Two drivers, both using salvaged components from Little Bastard, both crashing in the same race — it’s a detail that deepens the car’s infamy without relying on myth.

What remained of the wreck — stripped of its engine and drivetrain — was later acquired by George Barris for $2,500. Its frame was beyond repair, but the story wasn’t. That the man who was there at its birth became the keeper of its remains is a detail too strange to ignore. Barris didn’t create the curse — but he carried it.

Barris loaned what was left of the wreck to the National Safety Council. It toured as a grim exhibit — a warning against reckless driving. Barris claimed the wreck served a public good. “If it saves one life,” he reportedly said, “it’s worth it.” But the exhibit drew more than caution — it drew crowds. Newspapers ran photos of the twisted frame. Some viewers fainted. Others swore the wreck radiated something unnatural. Barris didn’t dispute the stories. He didn’t need to. The wreck spoke for itself.

But the wreck didn’t rest quietly. Transport crews reported injuries. Exhibitors spoke of strange malfunctions. A few even blamed the wreck for accidents that followed its display. None of this proves anything. But each account added weight to a story that refused to settle.

Was The Porsche That Killed James Dean Cursed? (7:19 minutes)

The Wreck as Traveling Artifact

After the Safety Council tour, Barris kept the wreck in circulation. It showed up at car meets, civic events, even a few shopping centers. Sometimes it was crated. Other times, left open to the elements. The venues changed, but the response didn’t. People looked. Some asked questions. Most didn’t.

In Fresno, a stand reportedly collapsed, injuring someone nearby, and in Sacramento, a fire broke out in a garage where the wreck had been stored. Neither incident was confirmed. But the stories stuck. The wreck was falling apart.

Panels sagged. Paint blistered. Barris didn’t fix it. He let it speak for itself. What remained was less car than symbol. Barris rarely repaired it. He preserved the damage. The twisted frame, the scoured metal — these were the exhibit. Not the Porsche, but what the Porsche had become.

Disappearance and Disintegration

In 1960, the wreck vanished. It was meant to appear at a car show in Miami. Barris arranged the transport. The truck made it. The wreck didn’t.

Barris filed a police report. Local papers ran the story. One suggested the wreck had been stripped for parts. Another floated the idea that it was hidden to avoid liability. A columnist even implied Barris staged the disappearance himself. None of it stuck. No theory held. The wreck didn’t surface in auctions, collections, or scrapyards. It was simply gone.

Barris continued to speak about it — sometimes hinting at new leads, sometimes deflecting. In a 1970 interview, he said, “It’s out there. Somewhere.” But no evidence followed. The wreck had become a blank space in the archive. A missing object. A myth.

Little Bastard Lost: Tracking the Vanished Porsche 550 Spyder

In 2005, the Volo Auto Museum offered a $1 million reward for information leading to the recovery of the original wreck. Someone came forward in 2014 claiming to have seen it hidden behind a false wall in Washington state, but legal complications stalled the lead. The car remains missing.

Meanwhile, even fragments of Little Bastard have fetched staggering sums. In 2021, the original transaxle — verified by Porsche — sold for $387,000 at auction. It had been stored in a crate for decades before resurfacing. If the full wreck were found today, its value would likely exceed $5 million, not just for its rarity, but for its mythic weight.

George Barris, who once claimed to possess parts of the wreck, never produced documentation. He did, however, lean heavily into the legend — fueling speculation that the car was cursed, haunted, or deliberately hidden to preserve its mystique.

🔗 Previously: Alec Guinness and James Dean: The Premonition That Became a Legend

References:

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Version 1.0 – Initial publication
Published 2025/08/09 at 12:32 pm
https://your-archive-url.com/dean-porsche-provenance

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