It sounds like sheer madness, but the new owner knew exactly what he was buying. The fact is that this is the gearbox from the iconic Porsche 550 Spyder. But, what is even more important from a collector's point of view, it is the gearbox that was installed in the car of the famous American actor James Dean.
What's more, this same Porsche killed the Hollywood star – Dean was involved in a fatal accident just 9 days after buying the car. At that time, only a pile of metal remained of the Stuttgart sports car, but, as you can see, the transmission survived (interestingly, the "remains" of the crashed 550 were then bought from the insurance company by a racer from Southern California, apparently, he was the first to show enterprise, saving the part for better times).
The gearbox has a serial number confirming that it was installed on the Porsche 550 Spyder sports car with chassis number 550-0055 and engine number 90 059 – this very example belonged to James Dean. The unit went to the new owner along with the axles, axle bushings, a set of drum brakes, and a starter. The entire assembly was mounted on a special metal cubic stand.
As for James Dean, contrary to his main occupation, the actor always loved driving with the wind and, moreover, often competed in amateur races, frequently putting his life at risk. It even got to the point that the Warner Brothers studio, with which Dean collaborated, included a ban on participating in races during filming in his contract.
