Porsche 550 Spyder – Great Exhaust Sound

This replica sounds fantastic, but the original 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder it’s copying has a story darker than any muscle car legend. James Dean owned his for nine days before it killed him, and the wreckage that survived went missing decades ago despite a standing million-dollar reward. Here’s the real history behind the car everyone still calls ‘Little Bastard.’

Even though it is a replica of the original James Dean classic, most people would still say “Damn that’s a nice car!”

Even as a replica, this car carries a legend that’s stranger than most muscle car mythology — because the original disappeared off the face of the earth and nobody has ever found it. James Dean owned his for exactly nine days before it killed him on a California highway in 1955. The wreckage that survived went on tour for the National Safety Council, changed hands, and then vanished completely somewhere between a car show and a bowling alley, despite a standing million-dollar reward for anyone who could produce it. What actually made this featherweight German roadster so fast in the first place?

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The Nine Days That Made It Famous

Dean bought his 550 Spyder in September 1955, numbered it 130, and nicknamed it “Little Bastard.” He was killed in it on Route 46 in California when another driver turned directly into his path — an accident that turned an obscure European sports car into one of the most notorious vehicles in automotive history almost overnight.

Light Enough to Out-Handle Bigger, Louder Cars

What made the 550 genuinely quick wasn’t brute power — it used a 1.5-liter, air-cooled flat-four with double overhead camshafts on each bank, producing roughly 110 horsepower, a fraction of what period American V8s made. But at only around 590 kilograms, it could out-handle far more powerful cars over a full race distance, which is exactly the kind of cornering-and-exhaust combination that makes this replica worth the attention.

A Wreck That Vanished Without a Trace

After the crash, customizer George Barris bought the mangled remains and toured the National Safety Council’s safety-education circuit with it from 1957 to 1959. At some point during that tour, the car simply disappeared — no sale record, no scrapping record, nothing — and even a million-dollar reward has never produced it.

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