On the Friday, the team set out with legendary Hollywood stuntman Bill Hickman driving his pickup truck and trailer trying to keep up with the exotic European racer. Although the original plan had been to tow the 550 Spyder to the race, it was decided it would be street driven to the race to give the young actor more time behind the wheel and to help break in the new engine before it would be pushed even harder on the race track over the coming weekend. This was while the car was being prepared by James Dean and his mechanic Rolf Wuterich in anticipation for that weekend’s Salinas Sports Car Races in California. The car had been painted by a legendary signwriter and car stylist named Dean Jeffries who emblazoned its flanks with the racing number 130 and the now infamous nickname for the sports car, Little Bastard. A sense of foreboding drove itself deep into the core of Guinness as his friend laughed it off, got into his car and drove away. Guinness would later comment in his diary that the car felt ”ominous” and ”looked sinister” while at the time claiming to have said to the young actor ”… if you get in that car, you will be found dead in it by this time next week”. Famously, the legendary actor Alec Guinness would meet Dean shortly after he had taken delivery of his Porsche Spyder. However, before he had even begun his journey there were signs of something impending. On September 30th 1955, Dean had intended to take his latest purchase to a race in Northern California. During his short career, he had amassed an impressive stable of sports and racing cars which he would regularly exercise on the public roads which would sadly be his undoing many believe. ![]() ![]() ![]() What the public may not have known, was his love of speed. With dashing good looks and an air of charm and ruggedness, he captured the hearts of movie-goers within the span of his tragically short career. James Dean was one of the brightest stars of 1950s Hollywood.
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