James Dean was a 1950s American Actor who was the ''face'' of American teenage rebellion and angst (at a time when US youth began to break away from the more rigid societal lifestyles of their 1930s Parents). Throughout His young and tragically short life, Dean set a standard which would be emulated time and time again, even today. Dean lived ''hard and fast'' and this lifestyle would prove to be His undoing. An avid Sports Car fan, Dean loved His 1955 Porsche Speedster. It was a common occurrence for The Los Angeles Police Department to cite Dean for speeding. Dean would also race His car (semi-professionally) when He had ''downtime'' between making films.
Traveling from a Race of September 30, 1955 Dean was traveling at a high rate of speed when He lost control of The Speedster near Cholame, California. The young and rising ''Rebel'' would die in the wreck. He was only 24. and while the Dean named ''Little Basterd'' Racer was a complete wreck, strange and unexplained happenings would result as a result of the salvage of what would become a ''Cursed Car''. Located in a salvage yard in 1956 several Car Racers and collectors of Classic Cars located Dean's wreck. Much of it's mechanical components were salvaged for use in other vehicles. In this, comes the circumstances of no less that every piece used from Dean's Racer resulted in near fatal crashes. Even spectators at the various Races were injured when cars flew apart, showering them in debris. In 1959, enough of Deans Racer was salvaged and merged into a replica of the exact car. This ''traveled'' The US as part of a Driver's Safety Program (and while if Dean had been wearing a safety belt he may have survived, most automobiles of the Era did not have such devices, helping push the need for their mandatory installment in all cars).
As it happened, all Owners of this ''Car'' too reported situations. Several died under mysterious causes (not related to driving). Some even reported ''seeing'' Dean ''sitting'' in the driver's seat! And while much of this car has been taken apart over the years, with much of the original Dean ''parts'' now unknown, in 2005 (The 50th Year Anniversary of Dean's Death), a replica ''Little Basterd'' was placed on display in The Volo Car Museum in Illinois (US). This car touted the last surviving piece of the 1955 car Dean's Driver's Side Door. Some claim that even this Car has served as a focal point for Dean's ''Spirit'', which is said to be ''seen'' on occasion sitting in it's Driver's seat.