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65 YEARS AGO
JamesDean AND THE HIS ICONIC PORSCHE 550
The year was 1954. The Porsche 550, already famous in racing circles, was soon to earn international fame. James Dean received his big movie break in 1954 when he was chosen to play Cal Trask, the leading male role in the film East of Eden (1955). Quickly following East of Eden , Dean was signed to play Jim Stark in Rebel Without a Cause (1955), the film for which he is best remembered. Immediately following the filming for Rebel Without a Cause , Dean played the lead role in Giant . As Dean’s movie career began to take off, he also started to race cars. In March 1955, Dean raced in the Palm Springs Road Races, and in May of that year, he raced in the Minter Field Bakersfield race and the Santa Barbara Road Races. Dean liked to go fast. In September 1955, he replaced his white Porsche 356 Super Speedster (pictured above) with a new silver Porsche 550 Spyder. Dean had the car specialized by having the number 130 painted on both the front and back. Also painted on the back of the car was “Little Bastard,” the nickname given to him by Bill Hickman, his dialogue coach for Giant . On September 30, 1955, James was driving his new Porsche 550 Spyder to an auto rally in Salinas, California, when tragedy struck. Originally planning to tow the Porsche to the rally, Dean changed his mind at the last minute and decided to drive it instead. While Dean and Rolf Wuetherich, Dean’s mechanic, rode in the Porsche, Dean had friends follow him in his Ford station wagon, which had a trailer for the Spyder attached.
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