James Dean’s Porsche 550 Spyder Possibly Found
Back when I lived in Illinois, I was only about twenty minutes away from the famed Volo Auto Museum. The museum has loads of old muscle cars, and quite a few celebrity star cars from the movies and TV shows. However, one car has eluded its grasp for years, along with Porsche enthusiasts everywhere. That of course is James Dean’s Porsche 550 Spyder, nicknamed Little Bastard.
Dean was tragically killed in the 550 Spyder on September 30th, 1955. After the wreck, the Porsche went around the country as an exhibit for a highway safety campaign. However, on the way from Florida back to California, the car went missing and was never heard from again.
In 2005, the Volo Auto Museum issue a reward of $1 million for the wreckage. Yet, for 10 years, not a word regarding the missing Porsche was heard. Until last year. After an episode of Brad Meltzer’s Lost History on the Porsche aired, the Volo Auto Museum was contacted by a man claiming to know where the Porsche is.
According to Brian Grams speaking with ABC 7 News, the Director of the Volo Auto Museum the man they spoke with, “said he was 6-years old at the time, and was present as his father and some other men put the wreckage behind a false wall in a building in Whatcom County, Washington.”
Will this be the final chapter of this Porsche’s long and intriguing history? Hopefully we will find out more.