What kind of car was James Dean driving when he was killed?

On September 30, 1955, at 5:45 pm, 24 year old actor James Dean was killed in a car accident at the junction of California State Route 46 and California State Route 41 near Cholame, California. The driver of the other vehicle, 23-year-old Donald Turnupseed was a California Polytechnic State University student who escaped without serious injury. Dean's passenger, German Porsche mechanic Rolf Wütherich survived his critical injuries.

His car, a $7000 Porsche Spyder convertible was brand new. Witnesses say Dean was not speeding at the time of the accident but he had received a speeding ticket at around 3:30 that afternoon, 150 miles from the crash site and had even stopped for a burger and coke at a diner so it was likely he was driving faster than the speed limit.

Legend has it Dean's car was cursed. After the accident, a mechanic standing near the tow truck had his legs crushed when the car rolled off the back of a truck. Later, parts of his car were sold across the country and the strange incidents continued. Cars who received the engine, transmission and tires were all involved in deadly crashes, and a truck carrying the Spyder’s chassis skidded off the road, killing its driver. The remains of the car vanished from the scene of that accident and haven’t been seen since.

Wütherich carried guilt the rest of his life and tried to commit suicide twice. In 1967, he stabbed his wife 14 times in a failed murder/suicide and he died in a drunk-driving accident in 1981.