James Dean Porsche 550 Spyder Transaxle sold for $382k!

[Luccia at Pelican Parts]

We all know the story about Dean, who died after colliding with another vehicle in Cholame, CA on 9/30/1955, while on his way to compete with the Porsche in a race in Salinas. Many parts were scavenged from the wreck by Dr. William F. Eschrich, one of which was the transaxle below. He also purchased what was left of the 550 for $1,092. They call this 550 cursed.. for a few reasons:

Another racer, Troy McHenry died in a racing accident in 1956 in a car that was reportedly equipped with several other parts from Dean's car, one of several tragedies connected to it that led to the myth that it was cursed.

Do you know the other stories associated with parts from Dean's 550?

Apparently, the totaled-out shell of the 550 from the accident was stolen back in 1960, never to be recovered. Initially, the transaxle was sold (changing hands several times) and then ended back up in storage where it sat for decades. It was re-discovered by a man (who restores Porsches) named Don Ahearn. It was remounted on a display frame and put on BAT (check out the listing here).

The high bid of $382,000 was roughly three times what a similar transaxle would be worth without the celebrity connection.

Source here

[Scott Douglas]

I watched that auction the other day.
The buyer said it's going into a museum and you'll be able to see it. Located in Las Vegas if you're really interested.

[Racerbvd]

Cool, thanks for sharing

[speeder]

Why on earth would anyone care about this or pay to see it in a museum? I can see just as interesting (looking) transmissions in any junkyard in the world(?)

And I say this as a fan of James Dean and a Porsche nut, or at least I thought I was.

I have coffee with a group of older people most mornings at my favorite coffee shop in the neighborhood. One of the ladies was on a train going to San Francisco on September 30th, 1955. She was 17 years old. The train stopped on the tracks in Cholame and the conductor announced that James Dean, the movie star, had died in an accident a couple hundred yards away that afternoon. She said that several of the people got off the train and walked over to the accident scene, not sure if the damaged vehicles were still there. Dean's 550 was towed to a gas station in Cholame that has a mini-museum to Dean to this day. She stayed on the train.

That's 1000 times more interesting than looking at some transaxle that looks like the one found in 5 million VWs, if you are a Dean fan. IMO, at least.

[Rusty Heap]

I simply don't see the appeal.

[stomachmonkey]

I'm planning to make each part an NFT so some stupid rich ****er buys them all from me so he can put it "back together"

[speeder]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

I'm planning to make each part an NFT so some stupid rich ****er buys them all from me so he can put it "back together"

I like it...thinking outside the box.

[herr_oberst]

The article in Road & Track mentioned that this sold for 3 times the usual price of a 550 transaxle. That's food for thought.

(Sidebar...If I had this transaxle I'd commission a slightly less blacksmithy bracket to hold it in situ)

[Jeff Alton]

I watched the auction, it was pretty clear in the wording choice that the origin was not verified, they used words like "believed to be" etc......

Now, it well may be from the vehicle in question, it it also may not be..... never underestimate the stupidity of society...

Cheers

[otto_kretschmer]

Originally Posted by speeder

Why on earth would anyone care about this or pay to see it in a museum? I can see just as interesting (looking) transmissions in any junkyard in the world(?)

And I say this as a fan of James Dean and a Porsche nut, or at least I thought I was.

I have coffee with a group of older people most mornings at my favorite coffee shop in the neighborhood. One of the ladies was on a train going to San Francisco on September 30th, 1955. She was 17 years old. The train stopped on the tracks in Cholame and the conductor announced that James Dean, the movie star, had died in an accident a couple hundred yards away that afternoon. She said that several of the people got off the train and walked over to the accident scene, not sure if the damaged vehicles were still there. Dean's 550 was towed to a gas station in Cholame that has a mini-museum to Dean to this day. She stayed on the train.

That's 1000 times more interesting than looking at some transaxle that looks like the one found in 5 million VWs, if you are a Dean fan. IMO, at least.

I've been thru that intersection a bunch of times going to Laguna Seca. Dean was driving west with the sun in front of him. The 550 is a small car. Maybe Dean would never been in that accident if he simply had his headlights on.

who knows

[ckelly78z]

I would be afraid of having the museum burn down after securing the cursed transaxle...definitely not worth the price, but I guess it's subjective.

[ckissick]

Someone should at least put it in a Beck Spyder.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by ckissick

Someone should at least put it in a Beck Spyder.

A couple of people tried that with a real 550 and the cars crashed and burned, supposedly. So much BS around this.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Watched the auction just because. Like others, don't see the appeal.

Hagerty article on it.

Transaxle from James Dean’s Porsche 550 Spyder sells for $387,000

[URY914]

The Porsche factory says that tranny was in the car when it was built but who's to say it was in the car when it was crashed?

[p911dad]

Hmmm 2 days later a 2006 Ford GT with 1400 miles went for $378,000. or $4,000. less than the Dean part. WTF? But I guess if you just had to have an old VW/Porsche transaxle, I guess it's your choice.

[varmint]

A rare and expensive part. But it’s being treated like a fragment of the true cross. Dean was only an actor. In his life he never did anything significant. He only pretended to. Same with Steve McQueen. I don’t get the fascination.

If you’re going to obsess over relics, why actors?

[ckissick]

Originally Posted by URY914

The Porsche factory says that tranny was in the car when it was built but who's to say it was in the car when it was crashed?

Dean bought the car 9 days before the crash, so it likely had the factory tranny.

[Seahawk]

Just think if he had been in a 1982 Sepia Blue 911SC.

Millions.

BTW, Varmint, I could not agree more but it just is.

My Uncle, helped design the Linear Accelerator at Lawrence Livermore, raced speedboats, was a complete man.





His buddies collecting parts at the wreck site.

[speeder]

Interesting guy but it looks like he ran out of talent on a curve? And what is a Sepia Blue 911SC? Sounds rare and exotic.

I don’t get the dichotomy...if your uncle was a real man, that means that Steve McQueen and James Dean were not? I think that anyone who lives their life in an honest fashion is a “real” man or woman, regardless of profession. Even creative people. Fame is just a weird byproduct of success in certain fields.