From the 356 Registry.....seems that there is a 1 million dollar reward for the James Dean car that disappeared while on tour as an accident prevention thingy....
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Hi...it's Lee Raskin. Interesting CNN report about George Barris and and
the Volo Museum having part of the 550-0055's door. Ok. Here's what I know.
George Barris told me last month in an interview that he had the skin off
one of the doors. I suspect that was a slip of the tongue by the King of
Kustoming.
As for George Barris and the Little Bastard: I will tell you that George is
a nice guy but who has drastically embellished the story over the past 45
years. Fact: George did not paint 130 or Little Bastard on the
Spyder....Fact; George did not buy the wrecked Spyder from the Estate after the accident.
Barris was a third party participant...I write about the entire sequence of
events in my latest book, James Dean: At Speed..coming out Sept. 30, 2005.
Back to the door at the museum....George is always looking for media
coverage on this James Dean mystery.... you draw your own conclusion.
As to the health of Little Bastard? I asked George if he "permanently
misplaced" the wrecked carcass in 1960? (and created a Hollywood elusion)
Barris replied, "Lee, it jsut disappeared into thin air! "
A million dollar reward for the Little Bastard?. Well...it's just part of
the hype expected from Barris and friends for the 50th Anniversary. If Jimmy
were around today...he'd tell GB and others to go straight to hell!
James Dean:At Speed be out on September 30th for the 50th Anniversary of
Jimmy's death. Bill Block/Registry will be receiving it as soon as it is
available from the printer.
This comprehensive photo documentary has been a labor of love for the past
25 years. I thank everyone who has ever helped me with JD information...
especially all the 356 Registry folks It will be the most definitive James Dean
book to date and covers all of Jimmy's motorsports activities from his
tricycle to his Spyder. I go into as much detail on the Speedster (VIN 80126)
being an extension of what I wrote about in the 2004 Porsche Speedster Typ 540
book published by Steve Heinrich
http://www.speedster50thanniversary.com