Beck 550 Sypder

[Ronzi]

Originally Posted by Ronzi

Photographer Miles Collier (I think that was his name) followed along in Dean's Ford station wagon towing a trailer. That's why there are photos of Dean on that "last ride". Of course Dean outpaced the wagon through the hills east of Cholame, so Collier didn't actually witness the crash.

I wasn't even close on the photographer's name. Actually it was Sanford (Sandy) Roth. With him in the Ford wagon, the driver, was actor Bill Hickman.
Roth was working on a photo essay on Dean for a Collier's magazine article.

Roth arrived on the scene in Cholame only a few minutes after the crash and apparently took a large number of photos of the scene and Dean's body. He vowed the pictures would never be published, and except for a few of the more innocuous ones, they never have been.

As a further correction, the trip to Salinas was on Friday, Sept. 30, 1955, not Saturday.

[Grizzly]

The stories surrounding the Dean 550 after the crash are nearly as interesting and mysterioous as the crash itself...

"After the tragedy, George Barris bought the wreck for $2,500. When the wreck arrived at Barris' garage, the Porsche slipped and fell on one of the mechanics unloading it. The accident broke both of the mechanic's legs.

While Barris had bad feelings about the car when he first saw it, his suspicions were confirmed during a race at the Pomona Fair Grounds on October 24, 1956. Two physicians, Troy McHenry and William Eschrid, were both racing cars that had parts from the "Little Bastard." McHenry died when his car, which had the Porsche's engine installed, went out of control and hit a tree. Eschrid's car flipped over. Eschrid, who survived despite serious injuries, later said that the car suddenly locked up when he went into a curve.

The car's malevolent influence continued after the race. A man trying to steal the Porsche's steering wheel slipped and gashed his arm. Barris reluctantly sold two of the car's tires to a young man. Within a week, the man was nearly involved in a wreck when the two tires blew out simultaneously.

Feeling that the Porsche could be put to good use, Barris loaned the wrecked car to the California Highway Patrol for a touring display to illustrate the importance of automobile safety. Within days, the garage housing the Spyder burnt to the ground. With the exception of the "Little Bastard," every vehicle parked inside the garage was destroyed. When the car was put on exhibit in Sacramento, it fell from its display and broke a teenager's hip. George Barkuis, who was hauling the Spyder on a flatbed truck, was killed instantly when the Porsche fell on him after he was thrown from his truck in an accident.

The mishaps surrounding the car continued until 1960, when the Porsche was loaned out for a safety exhibit in Miami, Florida. When the exhibit was over, the wreckage, en route to Los Angeles on a truck, mysteriously vanished. To this day, the "Little Bastard's" whereabouts are unknown. "

[Ronzi]

Originally Posted by Grizzly

The mishaps surrounding the car continued until 1960, when the Porsche was loaned out for a safety exhibit in Miami, Florida. When the exhibit was over, the wreckage, en route to Los Angeles on a truck, mysteriously vanished. To this day, the "Little Bastard's" whereabouts are unknown. "[/I]

This is without doubt one of the few remaining mysteries about the Dean 550. George Barris has at times said the car was shipped by truck back to CA. On other occasions he has said it was shipped back from Florida by rail. In either case, when the container was opened, it was empty. Barris has said he retained "Pinkerton's Detectives" to track down what happened to the car, to no avail.
My suspicious and cynical nature smells a rat. The man doesn't KNOW how it was shipped back from Florida??? One of the iconic cars in automobile history, and it disappears out of a locked box, and the owner has no idea what happened to it.

There is little doubt that by 1960, after the numerous mishaps at different shows, the Dean 550 was rapidly becoming a shapeless pile of wrinkled aluminum. It's days as a useful, and perhaps profitable, display prop were approaching an end.
Was it, by any chance insured? Could it be that the best outcome was for the remains to "disappear", and a quiet insurance claim be collected as a final tribute to James Dean, the Hollywood legend?
I wonder?