LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2008 April Music & Entertainment #688  / 

31272

Barris' Replica of James Dean's "Little Bastard"

Currency:USD Category:Memorabilia / Movie - Memorabilia Start Price:120,000.00 USD Estimated At:100,000.00 - 150,000.00 USD
Barris' Replica of James Dean's Little Bastard
<B>George Barris' Replica of "Little Bastard," James Dean's Race Car Used in the Film</B></I> <B><I>James Dean: Race with Destiny.</B></I></B></I> Heritage Galleries proudly offers one of the most evocatively tragic and glamorously eerie items in its history - George Barris' recreation of "Little Bastard," James Dean's legendary race car. From the beginning, Barris was a player in what has entered pop culture as "the Curse of Little Bastard." <BR><BR> The back-story is chilling. In September of 1955, "King of Kustomizers" Barris, at the request of Dean, painted racing stripes, number 130 and the words "Little Bastard" (Dean's nickname on the set of <I>Giant</B></I>) on the actor's new Porsche 550 Spyder. The car strangely seemed to have its own evil essence. Actresses Ursula Andress and Eartha Kitt sensed it. So did Sir Alec Guinness, who called the car "sinister" and prophesied to Dean that if he insisted on driving it, the young star would be dead in it within a week. Seven days later, September 30, Dean having completed <I>Giant</B></I> the previous day, took off in the Spyder with mechanic Rolf Wutherich for a race in Salinas. Late in the day, at the fork of highway 41 and 466, Dean crashed into a 1950 Ford. Wutherich, thrown from the car, survived with a broken jaw; Dean, caught in the car, suffered a broken neck and was dead-on-arrival at a Paso Robles hospital. George Barris and his partner Tanner Productions obtained the ruins of "Little Bastard," which seemed to have an enchanted afterlife. The wreckage survived a garage fire that incinerated everything else, fell off transporting trucks, allegedly caused injuries - hence "the Curse of Little Bastard." In 1960, en route back to Barris after a car show, "Little Bastard" mysteriously disappeared, leaving only its bizarre legend.<BR><BR> Fast forward 37 years, and George Barris, himself now a legend after designing such sleek creations as the 1966 Batmobile, resumed his connection with James Dean as he recreated "Little Bastard" for the 1997 TV movie <I>James Dean: Race with Destiny</B></I> (aka <I>James Dean: Live Fast Die Young</B></I>). Mardi Rustam produced and directed and the cast included Casper Van Dien as Dean, Cassie Mitchum as his ill-fated lover Pier Angel and Robert Mitchum (his final role) as George Stevens (director of <I>Giant</B></I>). A true star of the film was the new "Little Bastard" -- a precise replica, from the red racing stripes to the number 130 to the California license plate. The base movie car was assembled from a kit Spyder sports car fiberglass body, mounted on a Volkswagen chassis. (By the way, the reincarnated "Little Bastard" seems to have inherited none of the supernatural mischief making of the original). <BR><BR> The long-lost Porsche Spyder 550 "Little Bastard" haunts film history, and this recreation -- fashioned by the very man who painted the original and knows all-too-well its strangely compelling legacy -- is surely one of the most fascinating and desirable James Dean-related artifacts ever to appear in auction. A legend is re-born, and Heritage is proud to make it available -- curse or no curse! Excellent condition. NOTE: Third party shipping is required on this lot. The car is located in Los Angeles, and available for pick-up by winning bidders in that area. <I>From the George Barris Archive.</B></I><BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Requires 3rd Party Shipping (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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