Little Bastard
| |
| Little Bastard | |
|---|---|
| Model | Porsche 550 Spyder |
| Plates | 2Z77767 |
| Color | Silver |
| Owner(s) | James Dean Cal Hawkins |
| Appearance(s) | 5.05 Fallen Idols |
Well, after James Dean died, his mechanic bought the wreckage and he fixed it up… and it repaid him by falling on him… Then Tony McHenry was killed when it locked up on the racetrack. I mean, death follows this car around like exhaust. Nobody touches it and comes away in one piece… Then, in 1970, it vanished off the back of a truck. Nobody's ever seen it since…
History
The curse of Little Bastard originates at the Junction of State Routes 46 and 41, where James Dean and his mechanic Rolf Wütherich got in a car crash on September 30, 1955 with Donald Turnspeed. James Dean died from the crash and his mechanic survived having sustained major injuries. After the Spyder was purchased by George Barris, it was put on display and afterwards a series of accidents occurred between 1956 and 1960. Dr. William F. Eschrich purchased the wreckage, dismantled the Spyder, and salvaged various parts, including the engine from Little Bastard. He installed the engine into the Lotus IX and he ended up getting in a car crash on October 21, 1956. After surviving the crash, Eschrich loaned the car powered by the Spyder's engine to Dr. Tony McHenry, who hit a tree and died. William F. Eschrid also got in a crash in a car that used the Spyder's drivetrain.
George Barris managed to rebuild Little Bastard and placed it on display once more in Los Angeles in 1956. It was temporarily stored in a garage at 3158 Hamilton Avenue in Fresno, which caught fire on March 11, 1959. The cause of the fire was unknown, no people, cars, or other property were harmed, but the Spyder was damaged, having burned two tires and the paint scorched. The Spyder mysteriously disappeared from a sealed boxcar in 1960, returning from a traffic safety exhibit in Florida. It was believed that Barris opted to misplace Little Bastard to perpetuate the legend of the Spyder's curse.
Ever since then, the original salvaged parts from the Spyder have resurfaced. The Spyder's engine and pink slip remain in the possession of Dr. Eschrich's family. The transaxle assembly is owned by Jack Styles in Massachusetts. The passenger door is located in the Volo Auto Museum in Illinois. Lee Raskin documented and published all serial numbers (VINs) for the Spyder, including chassis, engine, and transmission.
Episodes
5.05 Fallen Idols
Cal Hawkins, the new owner of Little Bastard shows his friend, Jim Grossman, the car in his garage. They'd both been looking for it for 17 years. Cal mentions that he trusts that it's the authentic car since the VIN number matches the records. Jim asks how much Cal paid for the car, but only gets a response of "a lot." Once Cal gets into the car, however, strange things begin to happen - his breath turns cold and the radio switches on by itself. There's the sound of tires squealing and a crash. Jim then finds Cal slumped forward, the top of the broken glass of the windscreen wedged in his face, dead - despite the fact that the car is parked and has no signs of a crash.
Jim is wrongfully arrested on suspicion of murder, and Sam and Dean roll into town to investigate. They interview Jim under the guise of FBI agents and Dean gets enthusiastic when he finds out the car is, indeed, Little Bastard. When they go to examine it, Dean gets Sam up to speed on the history of the car, and the latter explains that the only real way to confirm whether it's the real car was verifying the engine number. Dean checks the engine number carefully, getting an etching on paper, and all the while nervous as the supports kept creaking, threatening to give way and let the car fall on top of him. The engine number on the car is P90061. According to the DMV Certificate for James Dean's car, the actual engine number is P90059, enforcing the fact that the car recovered by Cal Hopkins never belonged to James Dean. Sam also pointed out that the car originally belonged to a cardiologist in Philadelphia who drove it until he died in 1972. It is later ascertained that a Leshii had been responsible for Cal's death, replicating the events of the car crash to reflect the modus operandi of James Dean's death.
