When Hollywood star James Dean showed his newly-delivered Porsche 550 Spyder, his friend Alec Guinness warned him he would die within a week if he got into the car.
His prediction proved true, as precisely seven days later, James Dean was killed in a car crash on a California highway at the age of 24. The car, having earned the nickname “Little Bastard,” kept causing trouble long after the fateful day of Dean’s death. When legendary car customizer George Barris acquired the Little Bastard after the crash, he sold its engine and drivetrain to two racing drivers, one of whom was killed and the other severely injured shortly afterward.
The car was later used as a display item to demonstrate the dangers of road accidents. However, unexplained incidents continued to happen, including a fire in the garage where it was displayed. While being used as a road safety awareness prop in a high school, the car fell on a student, breaking her hip.
Eventually, after five years of killing and maiming, the now-infamous car disappeared altogether in 1960. The whereabouts of James Dean’s Little Bastard are still unknown.
