There are so many men and women that we have lost over the years: Aryton Senna, Dale Earnhardt, Jim Clark, Peter Brock, John Lingenfelter … the list continues. Many other Motorsports organizations have written and will continue to write about those heroes everyday. But on this episode of Break/Fix we are choosing to explore the life of someone lesser known for his Motorsports accomplishments and more for his acting and the tragic story surrounding his death.
Today we take a moment to remember the race car driver and actor: James Dean; and with us to unpack his story… is the world’s foremost expert on all things related to James Dean, Mr. Lee Raskin.
In our discussion with Lee, we cover topics like:
Check out the follow-along notes, transcript and more details for this episode at GTM
- How did you get started down this particular path in motorsports? What drew you to the James Dean story. Was it through Porsches/PCA? Or something else?
- James Dean was an accomplished actor and American heart-throb, his most popular films being East of Eden and Rebel without a Cause. But many might not know that he was also an avid Motorsports enthusiast and amateur race car driver?
- Let’s talk about the Crash.
- Let’s talk about “the Curse” – It is theorized that James Dean’s death was not his own fault, but rather that of the car. Some have also said that this particular Porsche 550 Spyder has it’s own dark and unsettling past. Legends, myths and other tall tales surround the James Dean story, and some go as far as to say that someone building Dean’s 550 died during the construction of the vehicle at the Porsche factory and their soul “haunted” the vehicle after its completion. So let’s get into a bit of fact vs. fiction and unpack this curse.
- In the end, it’s important that we do highlight one important aspect that is missing from the Dean story: SAFETY. A lot of engineering and thought has gone into vehicle design since 1955 to keep drivers and passengers as safe as possible on the roads. And even more research and development has gone into racing cars, to make sure we lose our heroes to old age, rather than faulty or insufficient equipment.
- and much, much more!
It’s a sad and tragic story. Who knows what his racing career could have been had he made it to the races in Salina the next day, would he have won? Would he have given up on acting all together and jumped head first into racing for the rest of his career? – Many other actors have flirted with racing: Steve McQueen, Patrick Dempsey, Michael Fassbender, Paul Newman, to name a few. Allegedly, Dean’s dream was to compete in the Indianapolis 500. Had the crash not happened, maybe we wouldn’t be speaking about James Dean the actor, but rather James Dean the Indy 500 winner. Unfortunately we will never know. All we do know is that a young talented life was taken from us way too soon and the Motorsports history books are at a loss without him.
To learn more about James Dean, or talk to Lee follow him on instagram @leeraskin or check out his books available today on Amazon. And for more information on “The Curse” check out Crew Chief Brad’s write-up.
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