Ghost car

He once said that his love of fast cars would be the death of him - but, as it happened, the twisted wreck he died in also claimed other lives.

Which is why many still consider the sleek, aluminium open-top car - nicknamed Little Bastard - must have been cursed.

It was the newest and fastest of the Porsche sports car range. The Spyder, with its 1500cc engine, was capable of 115mph. It cost around £2,500, very expensive in the 1950s, and it was snapped up by speed-crazy youngsters with more money than sense.

Superstar Dean was crazier than most.

Within two weeks of buying it, he died behind its wheel in a horrifying head-on crash, which left his body crushed like a stepped-on matchbox.

The story should have ended there with the mangled wreck going for scrap. It did not. The rogue Porsche had only just begun its trail of doom.

Dean had become, in just three films, a Hollywood sensation; and rich beyond his wildest dreams.

It meant he could satisfy his craving for racing cars. He first owned a Porsche Speedster, smaller than the one in which he died. It had already carried him to victory in races at top American speed tracks.

It was at one of these meetings that he met Rolf Wutherich, a Porsche mechanic who was to become a close friend.

Dean's dream was to win a 1500cc event. He spotted the Porsche Spyder on sale. The moment he eased himself into the driving seat he knew that the car had to be his.

Wutherich said it was in perfect order. So, on September 19, 1955, Dean bought the racing machine. He entered a race for all classes at Salinas, 300 miles north west of Los Angeles, and planned to drive up himself with Wutherich beside him.

The day before the races, he spent tirelessly chasing along the mountain roads near Hollywood in order to get acquainted with the car.

He did not get to bed before 3am. On Friday, September 30, the two men met up at 5am. They checked everything: oil pressure, ignition, plugs and tyres.

Among those who saw the two men off were Dean's father, and his uncle, Charles Nolan. Dean took his uncle for a spin.

When they came back, Nolan said: "For God's sake, Jimmy, be careful. You're sitting on a bomb."

They turned out to be prophetic words.

Dean and his companion set off for the racetrack. They never made it.

Dean died in the afternoon sun as the car crashed head-on with another at 85mph. Wutherich escaped with multiple injuries, and the other driver with severe bruises.

From that horrifying moment, the strange tragic legend of the Porsche - which Dean himself called Little Bastard - took shape.

George Barris, a car designer and friend of Dean, bought the wreck with the idea of selling the parts. In his yard, it slipped off a lorry and broke a mechanic's legs.

Barris said: "The first time I saw the car I felt there was something strange about it.

"It wasn't until after the accident and a whole string of tragedies that followed - all related to the car - that I began to accept psychic sciences.

"Everybody that car touched has turned into tragedy. The only explanation seems to be that it was cursed."

Barris sold the engine and transmission to a Dr Troy McHenry of Beverly Hills. Like Dean, the doctor liked to race cars.

Soon afterwards, he was killed - in a car powered by the engine from Dean's Porsche. Another doctor, who had bought the transmission from McHenry and put it in his car, was seriously injured when his car went into a roll.

Meanwhile, the two undamaged tyres from Dean's wreck, which had been sold to a New York man, both mysteriously blew up at the same time. The luckless man spent a week in hospital. Police failed to find a fault with either tyre.

Next, the Californian Highway Patrol planned to use the remains of the car in an exhibition about road accidents. But the night before the show, fire destroyed every vehicle, except Dean's, which escaped without any further damage.

The battered shell was then towed to Salinas to go on another display as a warning to other drivers when, amazingly, disaster struck again.

The tow lorry skidded and crashed and the driver was killed. But the Dean car rolled safely off the lorry.

Two years later, in Oakland, the wreck broke into pieces while being transported and fell on to the road, causing an accident. Then the hand brake of a truck carrying it, failed - and the truck smashed into the front of a store.

There may have been other accidents. Nobody is sure, because on its way back by train from being on display in Miami, the body of the Porsche vanished from the freight wagon.

It has never been heard of since.

The theory is that it was taken by some of Dean's fanatical followers.

YOU could win a 2008 James Dean' calendar plus The Little Black Book: Movies' in this week's competition.

The Daily Echo has teamed up with Borders, the bookshop in Bournemouth Square, to offer the calendar and books as prizes in our weekly competition.

Win a James Dean calendar

• The 2008 James Dean' calendar features 12 images of the iconic star, capturing his magnetism and restless introspection.

• The Little Black Book: Movies is an 800-page paperback featuring a century of the greatest films, stars, scenes, speeches and events tat rocked the movie world.

To have a chance of winning, all you have to do is answer the following question: In what year did James Dean die?

The first correct answer drawn from a hat will win. Send your entries by Saturday October 6 to Magazine Borders Competition Number 27; Promotions Department, Daily Echo, Richmond Hill, Bournemouth BH2 6HH. Usual Echo rules apply.