"The Automobile is the Art"
The Porsche 550 Spyder….James Dean’s Last Ride!

James Dean
James Dean
You bought it, sight unseen
You were too fast to live
Too young to die, bye bye
You were too fast to live
Too young to die, bye bye (bye bye)
James Dean
The Eagles, 1974
For a brief but brilliant moment in time James Dean was the king of the silver screen. Tragically, what his life lacked was a silver lining. Dean’s legendary Hollywood career spanned a mere year and a half and three major motion pictures. That’s it, three…period! It just happens that all three earned him Academy Award nominations and he remains the only actor in history to be nominated twice posthumously. Inconceivably, that meteoric success was compressed into a scant 587 days in a young man’s life. Rebel Without a Cause made James Dean the face of a generation and a face that can be seen everywhere from bikers’ forearms and other body parts to the water tower in Dean's tiny hometown of Fairmount, Indiana.
As great of an actor as Dean was, he was quite possibly a better race car driver. Because, if there was anything James Dean loved more than movies it was speed. Success on the racetrack came easily and instantly with a 2nd place finish in his first major race driving his white 1955 Porsche Super Speedster.
The Speedster was soon swapped for an even faster Porsche, the wicked 550 Spyder. Speed fascinated Dean. Drove him. Teased him…… Killed him. In just 15 days, on September 30th, it will be exactly 67 years since James Dean was tragically killed driving his brand new 140 mph 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder. He was on his way to a race he had entered in Salinas, CA. The car cost him $7,000 or his life depending on your perspective. James Dean was just 24. 

The story of what happened to James Dean that day and his famous 550 Spyder has been told many times. Some of the stories are even true. There is only one detail of that day that cannot be debated. James Dean’s 550 Spyder vanished long ago and has never been found. That’s why you should visit The Automobile Gallery & Event Center right now and see this priceless recreation of Dean’s 550 Spyder owned by local collector extraordinaire Dale Besson. It is a view few others in this world will ever have. 
The last movie James Dean ever made was called Giant…..The last car he ever drove was just 29 inches tall. On the big screen or in a small car, James Dean was larger than life. How appropriate that the last autograph James Dean ever signed was a speeding ticket issued by California Highway Patrolman Otie Hunter.

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Contemporary Automobile Gallery and Event Venue
"The Automobile is the Art"
Gallery open 9:00am - 3:00pm daily, hours subject to change.

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