As one of the greatest actors of the Golden age, James Dean was a cinematic artist by profession, but his passion ran strong in cars and racing. Having a devoted interest in cars and bikes, Dean owned top-of-the-line wheels of the time such as Porsche Speedster and the iconic Triumph Tiger. He would fondly participate in local races and just like his acting career, he showed his mettle on the race track too. In the year 1955, Dean featured in multiple races with his Speedster including the professional Palm Spring races where he notched up the first place in the novice class and second in the main event. A couple of races followed, and Dean impressed the bystanders with the same flair as he would impress the moviegoers.
On an unfortunate day, Dean brushed off his most loving Speedster for a new Porsche 550 Spyder, a car that would do just harm and no good. Dean got some customization done and had words 'Little Bastard' stretched across the rear hood of the car. Shortly after, Little Bastard would find its place in the dark Hollywood cultural mythology. On 30th September, while Dean was rolling along California 46 in his new car, he had a head-on collision with a high-speed 1950 Ford. Dean had sustained severe injuries, multiple fractures and torn muscles got him in a very critical condition. He was taken to a nearby hospital to be pronounced dead on arrival.
When his co-passenger had asked him to slow down, Dean uttered his last words, "That guy's (in Ford) gotta stop... He'll see us."
Well, clearly it was an accident that resulted from the rage of speed but how the rest of the story unfolded and some major revelations suggest a theory that sounds superstitious despite having some facts down.
British Oscar-winning legend, Alec Guinness who died in 2000 revealed that James Dean met him just a week before the fatal car crash took place. Alec detected in the first look that something wasn't right about the car. Describing his interaction with Dean, Guinness started with a little sketch of the new car, "There in the courtyard of this little restaurant was this little silver thing, very smart, all done up in cellophane with a bunch of roses tied to its bonnet."
Guinness added on,"I said, 'Have you driven it?' and he said, 'No. I have never been in it at all,' And some strange thing came over me. Some almost different voice and I said, 'Look, I won't join your table unless you want me to, but I must say something: Please do not get into that car, because if you do' — and I looked at my watch — and I said, 'if you get into that car at all, it's now Thursday (Friday, actually), 10 o'clock at night and by 10 o'clock at night next Thursday, you'll be dead if you get into that car.'"
Dean laughed and shrugged off Guinness's advice-cum-warning. Seven days later, the worst nightmare came true. Alec called Dean's death 'a very very hard spooky experience.'
James Dean's car which was nothing more than a piece of wreckage could serve as a huge public attraction. The American customizer, George Barris saw it as a safe bet and hence took home star's busted car for $2,500. Now things got a bit spookier, just as it was brought in the garage for repairment, it itself moved unexpectedly and broke a mechanic's leg.
Even those who bought the parts of Dean's car were traumatized. Barris sold the car's engine and drivetrain to two of his customers. The first buyer, Troy McHenry was racing in his car which now had a part of Little Basterd installed in it. He lost control, careened down the path to collide into a tree, and died instantaneously. The second victim, William Eschrid also got involved in an almost fatal accident that rendered him severely injured. In addition, the tires that Barris sold to one of his customers blasted simultaneously while running on the road, once again resulting in bad bruises to the driver.
The mishaps continued, those involved in restoring and moving the car either died or suffered injuries. Convinced of the curse of the Little Bastard, Barris decided to put it up for exhibitions for the cause of road safety. Even on its way to exhibition houses, the terror of Dean's last car upheld. The garage that stored the car burnt down to ashes, the hauler who was moving the car died, it fell on a student in the exhibition and whatnot.
On its way back to the home in Los Angeles from an exhibition in Miami, the Little Bastard and the truck hauling it mysteriously vanished into thin air. Till date, none has any idea about Dean's Little Bastard.