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Topic starter
18/04/2020 10:55 am
More Hollywood car connections
The actor James Dean died on Friday September 30, 1955 after making only 3 movies. He has since become immortalized as a Hollywood icon. He was driving a Porsche 550 Spyder and was hit by a 1950 Ford coupe, left front to left front, driven by Donald Turnipseed. The very rural intersection of highway 466 and 41 near Cholame California, east of Paso Robles, now has a memorial to him. A true car enthusiast, he was on his way to a sport car race in Salinas. Picture shows a 550 Spyder, a modified to look like the Turnupseed Ford, by Ertl, and the type of car he drove in Rebel Without a Cause, a Mercury coupe, by Universal Hobbies. The totally destroyed Porsche has since disappeared but there are rumors the crashed Ford might still exist somewhere in Visalia or Porterville California hidden away from view.
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John F. Quilter
Eugene, Oregon USA
18/04/2020 11:03 am
That little Porsche looks vulnerable, for sure.
18/04/2020 12:23 pm
You probably are aware of this, John, but CMC once issued a 1:24th scale model of James Dean's Porsche 550, complete with paint touches by George Harris. They also issued stock-appearing black and red models, but the silver "Little Bastard" was the real star. Pictures and a review are available in the Car List & Reviews section of this site, under CMC 1:24th.
I had the model but sold it long ago, regrettably. It's a fantastic model.
18/04/2020 2:43 pm
Schuco made the 550 in 1:43 and I bought theirs - there are other versions out there.
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Cheaper versions abound from Brumm and Atlas, and I thought Schuco made a cheaper version as well. Someone (I forgot who) did make the after-crash car, and I recall many collectors thought it was in bad taste.
Topic starter
18/04/2020 4:13 pm
Was the crash car actually showing the damage?
Photos I have in books show it largely demolished. My model is probably an early Solido diecast version but the "Little Bastard" one I had not seen.
John F. Quilter
Eugene, Oregon USA
19/04/2020 4:44 am
Yes it was mud caked... Made by small volume resin maker Jolly Model (Italy) - not too jolly!