[DeTomaso] Fwd: A James Dean Question You May Have The Answer for.
Sean Korb
spkorb at gmail.com
Thu Sep 16 07:41:24 EDT 2021
Thanks Mike,
That was a very good article and it has a call-out to Bill Hickman,
who also has a fascinating brief in Wikipedia. I know a few of these
can come off like an Internet Wet Blanket but I've always found the
truth juxtaposed with the lore much better than lore alone. I've been
to the James Dean Festival in Fairmount IL and it's fun, though the
chicken sandwiches aren't that great :) The next one is September
24-26 with 2000 cars usually.
sean
On 9/16/21, Mike Drew via DeTomaso <detomaso at server.detomasolist.com> wrote:
> Guys,
>
> Dennis O'Brien, a lurker on the forum, sent the below and asked me to
> forward it for him. It included lots of pics which I had to strip away
> to allow the post to make it through the forum filters....
>
> Mike
> Sent from my iPad
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: Dennis O'Brien <dobtruckers at gmail.com>
> Date: September 15, 2021 at 17:26:05 PDT
> To: Mike Drew <mikeldrew at aol.com>, OBT <dobtruckers at gmail.com>
> Subject: Fwd: A James Dean Question You May Have The Answer for.
>
> Mike, I saw the post(s) in the Pantera forum and thought it might be
> fake news having read up on Dean over the years and also being very
> familiar with the reputation of (late) friend George Barris. There were
> inconsistencies in the story.
> So I tracked down the author of multiple James Dean books and (very)
> often quoted expert on all that is James Dean. As I suspected, Dan
> Gurney was not driving the Ford station wagon / trailer trailing behind
> James Dean on his last ride.
> Below is my letter to Lee and his reply to me.
> Please edit as you wish and post this on the forum (I get the daily
> feeds but never post:( ).
> Feel free to quote me as you wish - and you can see that Lee is OK with
> quoting him also.
> Dennis O'Brien #2927
> <image.png>
> O'Brien Truckers
> 29 A Young Road
> Charlton, MA 01507
> 508-248-1555
> [1]obt at charter.net
> [2]www.obrientruckers.com
> ---------- Forwarded message ---------
> From: Lee Raskin <[3]lmr356 at aol.com>
> Date: Wed, Sep 15, 2021 at 7:55 PM
> Subject: Re: A James Dean Question You May Have The Answer for.
> To: [4]dobtruckers at gmail.com <[5]dobtruckers at gmail.com>
> Cc: Lee Raskin <[6]lmr356 at aol.com>
> Hi Dennis...Very cool stuff you do....I am a big fan of VooDoo and
> Collette....will see them next week at Fairmount!
> I answered in GREEN against some very mixed up stories in RED. ''
> Boy, I really worked that one over...all the answers were off the top
> of my head. '''
> My books are 100% accurate as to the James Dean car facts and Porsche
> history.
> Amazing how much BS appears online every day.
> Feel free to use whatever I wrote. Copyright is on all
> photos...courtesy of Lee Raskin collection
> Best regards, Lee
> [7]www.LeeRaskin.net
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dennis O'Brien <[8]dobtruckers at gmail.com>
> To: [9]lmr356 at aol.com
> Sent: Wed, Sep 15, 2021 6:35 pm
> Subject: Fwd: A James Dean Question You May Have The Answer for.
> Thanks for the reply and here is the question I have.
> BTW, I've made all of Larry and Collette's Voodoo Kings No. Ill. car
> club plaques (along with another 170,00 or so for other clubs,
> associations and individuals).
> Dennis O'Brien
> O'Brien Truckers
> 29 A Young Road
> Charlton, MA 01507
> 508-248-1555
> [10]obt at charter.net
> [11]www.obrientruckers.com
> ---------- Forwarded message ---------
> From: Dennis O'Brien <[12]dobtruckers at gmail.com>
> Date: Mon, Sep 13, 2021 at 6:55 PM
> Subject: A James Dean Question You May Have The Answer for.
> To: <[13]lee at leeraskin.com>
> I've always had an interest in James Dean and have done the whole
> Fairmont three museums, graveyard, Enfield dealer, HS, etc. tour.
> I also have a 1972 Pantera and get a daily feed for posts on their
> forum.
> The other day someone posted a very interesting video on Dan Gurney's
> '61 Chevy 409 that he took to England and beat a bunch of Porsches with
> till it broke and then they changed to rules so he couldn't try again.
> So now to get to the question. In the comments on the forum about the
> video, someone posted this:
> " I read that Dan Gurney was one of James Dean's mechanics and in a
> station wagon following Dean when he crashed if this is accurate:
> [14]https://members.tripod.com/~Ken_Johnson/September30.html
> ? "On this day in 1955, James Dean, the brooding film actor who won
> acclaim in "Giant", "East of Eden" and "Rebel Without a Cause", died in
> a car crash in Cholame, CA, a tiny farm town. Dean, who lived the life
> of James Stark (his character in "Rebel Without a Cause"), was killed
> when his Porsche Spider (550 Spyder) ran into another car, head-on at
> 75 ( pehaps closer to 85-90 mph) miles an hour. Dean's mechanic also
> died in the crash ( Dean's mechanic, Rolf Wutherich, survived with
> non-life threatening injuries to his jaw, thigh and foot) . Today, a
> scarred, stainless steel memorial marks the scene of the accident ( the
> stainless steel memorial is one mile west of the actual crash location
> ). The once-gleaming tribute was designed, paid for and erected by a
> Japanese fan. James Dean souvenirs are for sale at the Jack Ranch Cafe,
> a few feet from the crash scene. ( Jack Ranch Cafe is next to the James
> Dean Memorial) James Dean and his German mechanic were headed West on
> State HWY 146 ( CA Rt. 466) (they were on the way to Salinas, CA for
> the sports car race held there at the Salinas Airport). Because the car
> was brand new, Dean decided to drive the car from LA up to Salinas to
> break it in! They (Dean and his mechanic) were being followed by one of
> his other mechanics in a 1953 Ford Station Wagon pulling a trailer
> (that was intended for carrying the Porsche Spyder), the other
> mechanic that was driving the Station Wagon was none other than Dan
> Gurney! ( the 1955 Ford Country Squire towing a two axle trailer was
> driven by Dean's friend Warner Bros. stunt man, Bill Hickman with
> photographer Sanford Roth riding shotgun) ( James Dean and Dan Gurney
> never met. Dan Gurney raced a 356 Porsche Speedster in 1956-1957 a
> after James Dean died ) The name of the driver of the other car (it
> was also a Ford Station Wagon) involved in the accident, was withheld
> (his name) by the California Highway Patrol. ( The other driver in a
> 1950 Ford Custom coupe from Tulare, CA was identified by the CHP at the
> scene.) The CHP was afraid that fans of James Dean may retaliate
> against him (the driver of the station wagon) when the accident was
> clearly Dean's fault. ( Not true..made up story. Neither Turnupseed
> and Dean were found not to be guilty at the CA Inquest...although
> Turnupseed failed to yield to an oncoming vehicle and could have been
> charged with a misdemeanor manslaughter...but he wasn't )
> The CHP at the time, determined that Dean's Porsche was traveling in
> excess of 90 to 100 mph at impact! ( The CHP thought Dean was over the
> 55mph speed limit but around 70.) The German mechanic riding
> with Dean did NOT die in the crash! He was thrown clear of the car and
> suffered serious injuries, none life threatening. The monument erected
> by the Japanese fan, ( Seita Ohnishi) is in actually over 2 miles (
> approx. 1 mile) away from where the accident occurred. Dean's Porsche
> Spyder (the actual one that he was driving when he was killed) traveled
> around the country for several years following the accident, being put
> on display, of which you could view the car for a small fee! ( No fee
> was ever charged to look at the JD wrecked Spyder...although the
> Porsche Spyder was part of a travelling car show within a hot rod or
> custom car show that charged admissions) Much like the Ford that Bonnie
> and Clyde died in (which now resides in the front lobby of a small
> casino off of Interstate 15 at the California/Nevada border just west
> of Las Vegas. James Dean's Porsche and the railroad boxcar it was
> contained in ( was in a tractor traler transporter) , was stolen in the
> early seventies ( disappeared in 1961) while being transported to the
> Ford Museum in Detroit, MI. ( was being transported from Miami, FL to
> Hollywood, CA. ) The Porsche has never been seen since. The boxcar
> containing Dean's Porsche was found a few weeks later, but it was
> empty. ( Totally made up story) " "
> A link to the blog
> posting: [15]https://members.tripod.com/~Ken_Johnson/September30.html
> Now I have never read anything like that before, and no amount of
> Googling has confirmed it - either from the James Dean side of it or in
> the history of Dan Gurney. I was also able to find a couple of pictures
> of the station wagon and trailer parked behind the Lil Bastard on the
> way to Salina - but never ANY mention of who was driving the wagon -
> i.e. the third (or more?) member of James Dean's traveling party that
> day (besides James and his mechanic who were in the Porsche."
> My books James Dean At Speed (2005) and James Dean On The Road To
> Salnas ( 2015 and 2020) go into detail on every minute pertaining to
> the events of 9-30-55...including the post-crash and Inquest of October
> 11, 1955. I also debunk all of the myths and curses that exist on
> the Internet.
> You can quickly find most of the history on Wikipedia Death of James
> Dean...which I rewrote for Wiki several years ago.
> [16]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_James_Dean
> I am quite friendly with Justin Gurney and have discussed Dan's early
> Porsche ownership and racing events in 1956 and 1957 in a Porsche
> Speedster.
> I'd be very thankful if you could shed a little fact check on this
> revelato-ion - or non-revelation.
> Thanks in advance,
> Dennis O'Brien
> BTW, here is a link to the video on Dan Gurney's Chevy that i'm sure
> you will enjoy
> [17]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkwmeYx1xr4
> [18]https://www.motortrend.com/features/1961-dan-gurney-impala/
> O'Brien Truckers
> 29 A Young Road
> Charlton, MA 01507
> 508-248-1555
> [19]obt at charter.net
> [20]www.obrientruckers.com
> <scan0302.jpg>
> <scan02999.jpg>
> <Lee Author Card.jpg>
> <10-13. Porsche Spyder at Competition Motors.jpg>
> <10-16. . JD at Mobil Station in Sherman Oaks..jpg>
> <27AAA Spyder Cholame Garage.jpg>
> <20190402_174300.jpg>
> <20190402_182710.jpg>
> <20190402_174727 (1).jpg>
> <scan0058.jpg>
>
> References
>
> 1. mailto:obt at charter.net
> 2. http://www.obrientruckers.com/
> 3. mailto:lmr356 at aol.com
> 4. mailto:dobtruckers at gmail.com
> 5. mailto:dobtruckers at gmail.com
> 6. mailto:lmr356 at aol.com
> 7. http://www.LeeRaskin.net/
> 8. mailto:dobtruckers at gmail.com
> 9. mailto:lmr356 at aol.com
> 10. mailto:obt at charter.net
> 11. http://www.obrientruckers.com/
> 12. mailto:dobtruckers at gmail.com
> 13. mailto:lee at leeraskin.com
> 14. https://members.tripod.com/~Ken_Johnson/September30.html
> 15. https://members.tripod.com/~Ken_Johnson/September30.html
> 16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_James_Dean
> 17. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkwmeYx1xr4
> 18. https://www.motortrend.com/features/1961-dan-gurney-impala/
> 19. mailto:obt at charter.net
> 20. http://www.obrientruckers.com/
>
--
Sean Korb spkorb at gmail.com http://spkorb.org (est 1994)
"Computers are useless. They can only give you answers." -P. Picasso
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