James Dean's Porsche Belongs In A Stephen King Novel

Don’t get us wrong, we’re very scientifically minded here at theTUNDRA. Just look at all of our coverage of outer space, the final frontier of science. The world of the mystical or ethereal hold no sway here! Superstitions be gone! All that said, however, we do believe that some things can have such consistently rotten luck that when examining all the facts it would be very difficult not to classify them as… cursed. 

Whether it is brought upon by an angry boy-wizard who didn’t appreciate a comment about the scar on his forehead, or simply a series of unfortunate coincidences that take shape over time to form a generally negative oeuvre, we are all over it. To that end, the jump-scare loving, car enthusiast in us wanted to explore the most cursed race car of all time.  

So get your Snuggie ready; it’s about to get creepy like an evening with a VHS tape that only plays static in here. Because hands down the most famous cursed race car is the “Little Bastard,” also known as the car that killed actor James Dean.

James Dean loved cars and racing from a young age. Like many movie stars of that time, like Steve McQueen and Paul Newman, Dean entered some races, even finishing third overall in the 1955 Palm Springs Road Races, which is no small feat. Then, six-months later, while driving to another race in Selinas, he was killed in the car he was to race in: His infamous Porsche 550 Spyder.  

Just weeks before that accident it is said that none other than Obi-Wan Kenobi himself, Alec Guinness, warned Dean that the car was evil and would be the death of him. Guiness even went as so far as to call the car’s look “Sinister.” Now, if a Jedi predicting your death doesn’t give you the heebie-jeebies, we’re not sure what will.

Many think that the car’s days of weirdness and overall evil-doing were at least finshed after that tragedy. However, that wasn’t the case. This Christine of a car went on to be sold at auction after the accident. Then both its engine and transmission were installed in cars that would eventually crash with one of the accidents killing its new owner.  

Meanwhile, the mangled body of the original “Little Bastard” was on a gruesome PSA tour by the National Safety Council, where it suddenly, and without explanation, caught fire. Then, in pure Horror movie fashion, it suffered little to no damage, with only some of the paint being singed. Why they didn’t call an exorcist at that point we’ll never know.

While on that very same tour, the driver transporting this perdition Porsche lost control of his truck and was thrown from his vehicle onto the road. “Little Bastard” then rolled off the back and crushed him. No one was safe from “Little Bastard’s” wrath. 

The car has since vanished from the face of the earth, presumably to roam the plane between Hell and Earth, waiting to take its next victim. Seriously, it has never been seen from again. We’re only left with bits and pieces of news as various auto parts show up here and there like found relics from biblical times. The latest on this devil car is that that the transaxel was purchased in June of 2021 for $382,000 at auction after being stored in a box for thirty-years. Its new owner is still alive…as far as we know.​