JDZ Number Plates

It is nearly sixty years since the untimely death of film star James Dean. The talented actor was just twenty four when his brand new Porsche 550 Spyder was involved in a head-on collision with a 1950 Ford Tutor. Dean was a motor enthusiast and in fact was driving to an auto rally in California at the time of his death. Although he is best known for his acting career he only stared in three movies, East of Eden, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant and the latter two were released after his death in 1955.

Many people don’t realise that Dean was also a racing enthusiast and took part in several races in the years preceding his death. In March 1955 he raced in the Palm Springs Road Races and in May of the same year he also took part in the Minter Field Bakersfield race and the Santa Barbara Road Races. Just hours before his death Dean was pulled over by police for speeding but was cautioned and allowed to go on his way. He was travelling westbound on Highway 466 (now called Route 46) when the 1950 Ford Tutor pulled out in front of him. Many say that if Dean had not been speeding he may have survived the accident. Both Dean’s passenger (his mechanic Rolf Wuetherich) and the driver of the other vehicle survived but Dean was killed instantly.

Following the accident Dean’s crumpled Porsche 550 Spyder was toured around America as part of a police safety presentation, however during the tour the car mysteriously disappeared. Many appeals have been put out to have the vehicle returned but to date there are still no clues as to where the historic vehicle might be.

James Dean was a fan of personalisation as he had the number 101 painted to the front and back of the Porsche and his nickname written in small print on the back.  It is very likely that he would have had personalised number plates if he had lived to recent times. Perhaps he may have been interested in a JDZ number plate, available from Speedy Reg. If you are a James Dean fan,  if your name is James Dean or you have the initials J.D. why not make your own piece of history with a dateless number plate from Speedy Reg.