Short Stuff: James Dean's Car | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

[Music]. hey and welcome to the short stuff Josh. here Chuck here Jerry here let's go. short stuff that's right this one is. about James. Dean. Scar and James Steen too he he plays a. part in it it's say it amounts in his. death that's right it results in his. death yeah that's when he he drove that. uh little silver Porsche 550 Spider Man.

one of the fastest it was like a little. race car basically one of the fastest. cars in the world at the time mhm uh had. a top speed of about 143 mil an hour sat. uh how high off the ground like 42 Ines. or something yeah like that was really. really low to the ground I saw that go. right under a railroad. arm yeah if you were. crazy so um yeah and James team was is.

known to be a little crazy the studios. that he worked for uh were like you. cannot race your car while you're under. contract with us or while you're filming. a movie you have to wait until it's in. between movies and it just so happened. that um I take it it was in between. movies I think it was after he had. filmed giant which turned out to be his. last movie um that he was heading. towards Selenas to race at a sports car. Club of America race and he had his. mechanic Ralph werich were worther Rich.

yeah uh in the seat beside him and he. was going about 85 and Came Upon an. intersection that's known today to still. be pretty deadly it's uh the. intersection of Route 46 and 41 and. there was a guy named with the. improbable name of Donald turnup speed. who turned in front of him and that was. that for James. Ste yeah I've never heard of that name. before I had not either not turnip seed.

right that's what I thought it was a. misspelling but no not. turnip speed right literally turn up. speed yeah that was the last name of the. guy who got in the Fatal wreck with. James de isn't that crazy uh it's pretty. crazy and it was very sad and people. have gone back since then and said like. you know that that intersection there uh. the Sun hits really bright where James. Dean would have been at that time he. would have been very low to the ground.

in that car 85 M hour clearly too fast. and when the guy turned um they think. that James Dean may not because of the. the path of the sun may not have even. seen this car taking a left and it was. just lights out for him there's another. thread or another camp that says that. Ralph werich later said that James. Dean's last words were he's got to stop. I think he sees me and then kaboo and. apparently when they collided uh Donald. turnup up speed was driving a Ford Sedan.

and when you put an aluminum race car. that's I think 39 one 39 in a meter off. the ground um up against the Ford in a. T-bone Collision the Ford wins and that. little Porsche with James Dean still in. it Ralph werich got ejected from it. which is what saved his life um James. Dean was still in the car when it. started cartwheeling um just end over. end over end into a ditch and uh he. broke his neck while he was doing that.

and that's ultimately what killed him. that in a skull fracture they say did. you see the car after the wreck. mhm all right well I just texted to you. so sorry about that that's okay take. another look at it it's uh it's crazy. that anyone survived this crash but he. was the only fatality uh and I guess we. should take a break a little early here. because the story um about what happened. to that car gets a little bit strange. from this point on so we'll be right. back.

well now when you're on the road driving. in your truck why not learn a thing or. two from Josh and Chuck it's stuff you. should knowu you should know all. [Music]. right okay Chuck so James Dean is dead. but the death of James Dean is just like. the the the the preface to this story.

because James Dean's car even though it. was considered total it was totaled um. had a strange afterlife and it ended up. taking more lives if you go in for this. kind of stuff that's right uh there was. it was sent to a salvage art at first of. course then there was a guy who knew. James Dean from the car racing circuit. his name was William uh Sr he was. looking for this car I don't think we. said the nickname of the car was little. bastard mhm found the car in Burbank.

took out the engine kind of stripped it. for parts or some of the parts at least. uh he got the engine put it in his own. race car it was a Lotus 9 and gave the. uh transmission and some of the. suspension to a friend named Troy Lee. McKenry another car racer 11 months. later uh both of them crashed their uh. each each of them crashed their car in. the same race at the 56 Pomona road. races um which killed McKenry uh estrich.

survived but both of them had parts from. James Dean's car and thus began this. idea that this car was cursed right um. so the car itself was pretty much. cherry-picked by this point um but even. after Troy Lee McKenry died his uh widow. um gave some of his racing car parts to. other Racers friends of his and among. them were some of the ones from James. Dean's car so put put a pin in that.

because that's kind of One Direction. that these things went yeah there was. another Direction uh that a man named. George Baris came along and said here's. where the story um really begins if you. listen to George bears and we'll just go. ahead and caveat this with not everybody. believes what George bars has to say. much like Chuck bars for sure uh bars. was a. um pretty famous guy he designed the. Batmobile he designed the monsters car. uh from that TV show so he's a a.

Hollywood movie TV and movie Car Guy uh. has a I believe he has a museum if not. he donated some cars to one of the movie. car museums uh but was pretty famous in. entertainment circles for doing stuff. like that uh he says that he bought the. frame and the body uh from James Dean's. family sold two of the original tires. away which apparently those tires were. blown at the same time and another car.

he verify that just take that for what. it's worth right uh and then he lent the. car frame to the LA national Safety. Council um they had like a traveling. display you know when they'll show like. a a mangled car from a a DUI or. something and as a warning signal. supposedly that was what James Dean's. car was used as uh and this thing. reportedly we keep saying all these. qualifier words but reportedly fell off. its display on on several occasions uh.

one time injuring someone another time. killing a guy named George barcas yeah. he was a truck driver who was. transporting that car around from place. to place um for the national Safety. Council um so James Dean's car has now. claimed at least one more life and. injured multiple. others believe it it's getting more. efficient at it because it's now been. taken into pieces and spread out so now. it can right become a Kill machine more.

efficiently so that car that the. national Safety Council had touring. around was uh supposedly put into. storage in. 1960 and it was again allegedly in. storage with other cars when it caught. on fire no other car in this storage. facility caught on fire just James. Dean's car it melted so like a tire and. singed I think some of the interior uh. and then after that it supposedly. disappeared.

and um George bars continued on and was. like hey I've got the chassis still can. you believe it like these things just. keep coming out of nowhere that like I'm. a magnet for James Dean car parts and he. toured it around and it was around this. time I think that um people really. started to be like this sparis fella is. he's talented but he's really playing up. this James Dean death car. Legend yeah in his book he um he claimed. that a guy tried to steal the steering. wheel M and broke his arms trying to.

steal the steering wheel right pretty. good story so now we can go back to the. other uh path right yes because at that. point the bars car is suddenly. disappeared and then we don't know what. H like if it if the Bears car was not. the James Deen car we don't know what. happened to the original. one right but you told that story about. the car being in storage and catching. fire um in.

2015 um it's it appeared that they found. the frame uh because a guy got in touch. with the museum director for the Volo. Auto Museum Volo Illinois his name was. Brian. Grahams um and uh he said that this guy. told me that when he was a kid he saw. his father and some friends of his. hiding the body of that porish in a. building in a false wall in the building. when he was just six years years old and.

it looked like that story checked out. yeah I mean Brian Gramps who directed. The Museum like you said he would he. believed it enough to ask the guy to. submit to a polygraph and he said that. there's been tons of stories over the. years because the Volo um Auto Museum. put out a $1 million offer for James. Dean's original car that again had. disappeared back in 1960 and he said. that all the other stories just never. checked out except for one and he was. referring to that one from the guy who. said said that he saw his father hide it.

and you said that his dad did it with. some friends among those friends. according to this guy was George bars so. all this would have checked out because. this would have been the time that the. car disappeared around. 1960 and even though he he passed the. polygraph test this Anonymous man who. was trying to collect this million. dollars I feel for him um he uh he. couldn't get his hands on the car I'm. not sure at first why um but eventually. they found that the building that it was. hidden in was no longer there it had.

been. demolished that's right and so they. don't really know what happened it could. have been just a part of the overall. demolition of that building since it was. uh supposedly hidden in a false wall and. and gone down like The Telltale Heart uh. but no one really knows what happened to. the rest of uh little bastard um. supposedly there was a trans axle in. March of 2020 that I I don't think. supposedly I think this was actually. confirmed to have been a part of uh the. car because it came from uh mchenry's.

Widow and McKenry was the one who bought. those original parts and died in the. wreck right that transaxle I guess it. combines the differential the. transmission and the axle all into one. compartment if you know what those three. things are then you'll know what a. transaxle is um that it went for I think. almost. $400,000 at auction I think it was. bought by Zack Baggins the ghost guy um. who probably has it in his lost Vegas. Museum now I guess so uh 400 grand for a.

transaxle I know it's a famous car but I. don't know that seems a little I don't. know it's just not a not the sexiest. part A cursed. transaxle yeah and it was the whole. point that it was his car I get it but. um I don't know but I mean this is. coming from the guy who had the the. sheriff's door from Jackie. Gleason's uh Sheriff's Cruiser from. smoking the Bandit in my garage for. years and years wow.

what happened to it oh I've told this. story before who knows it's false wall. at a Chick-fil-A my dad somehow got it. had a. Chick-fil-A uh and it was just in our. garage forever and I think it was. eventually was like just get that thing. out of here wow wow I wish I had it man. that thing would be a coffee table or. something yeah or a great Halloween. costume yeah or Yumi would be cursing me. because I would have gifted you that. coffee table made out of a car door. that's pretty awesome that would make.

make a great coffee table Chuck yeah and. a good wedding gift yeah for sure thank. you for the thought it's the thought. that count so I appreciate the Smokey in. the Bandit sheriff's car door coffee. table that you thought about giving Yi. and I for our wedding that's right short. stuff is. out stuff you should know is a. production of iHeart radio for more. podcasts iHeart Radio visit the iHeart. Radio app Apple podcasts or wherever you. listen to your favorite shows.

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