James Dean Killed by "Little Bastard"

James Deans Porsche 550 Spyder named “little bastard” was involved in a catastrophic collision that killed James Dean on September 30, 1955. The little bastard caused upset almost from the moment Dean bought it, hint at the name. Alec Guiness said to Dean, “Please never get in it. . .  if you get in that car you will be found dead in it by this time next week.” But Dean laughed it off, a week later he was. 

The parts were stripped by Dr.William Eschrich who loaned some to Troy McHenry. Eschrich crashed the Lotush he used the parts on (luckily surviving) and McHenry was killed when he hit a tree in the same race with Little Bastards parts on his car. There are many stories after that about the Little Bastard falling from its display to injure someone, falling on George Barkus and killing him, and even rumored to have disappeared. The whereabouts remain unknown 60 years later, and with Barris gone (the one transporting it when it “disappeared”) we may never know what happened to the Little Bastard.