Thread: James Dean Country

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Greetings from Fairmount, IN, hometown of James Dean. Even though we have a great festival here every September with lots of hot rods showing up, there are a few rods on the street most of the year. In fact, a good friend of mine owns a used car lot plus a collection of cars, three of which are 409 Chevys.
I'm trying to get going on building a '50 Ford sedan which has been in my wife's family since new. Lots of work ahead. Any other '50 Ford owners here?
Thanks.
Dave

Dave,
Can't help on the shoebox, but welcome to CHR. Looking forward to seeing pictures of your progress. Don posted a neat summary of that process when you're ready - http://www.clubhotrod.com/forums/sho...threadid=47288

welcome to chr dave

Welcome! Wasn't James Dean killed by a 50 Ford?

Originally Posted by dmw56

Welcome! Wasn't James Dean killed by a 50 Ford?

Wow, never knew that trivia point - from Wiki....

Dean was driving west on U.S. Route 466 (later State Route 46) near Cholame, California, when a black-and-white 1950 Ford Custom Tudor coupe, driven from the opposite direction by 23-year-old Cal Poly student Donald Turnupseed, moved to take the fork onto State Route 41 and crossed into Dean's lane. The two cars hit almost head-on.

OK, and Mr Turnupseed just recently passed away. I stayed in Cholame, CA for 3 weeks the summer of 1975.

This picture was taken the morning he was killed. The '55 Ford pulling the trailer was also his but he elected to drive that day.
There has been lots of discussion as to his speed at the point of collision but needless to say, it happened. I've had the privlege of meeting many of those who knew him personally and/or went to school with him.
Dave

Dave, welcome to CHR. When I first read Mr. Turnupseed's name, I thought it read Turn-up-speed lol. I look forward to seeing your build.
Andy

Welcome to the forum. I used to work with a retired Indiana State Trooper who grew up in Fairmount, and went to school with James Dean. He told me a lot of stories, most of which I forget but he said the stories about James having a motorcycle were bogus. Said it was actually a motorscooter...........whodathunk James was just like Toad? He said he was also very introverted and stayed to himself quite a bit, but was generally a nice guy.

Horrible way to go though, and so young. Makes you wonder how huge of a star he would have become if he had lived. As for your 50 project, shoot us some pictures as you go, we love pictures.

Don

Welcome Dave,

In 1960 my aunt gave me a 50 ford crestliner for my high school graduation. Gave it to a friend, minus the engine, in exchange for his dad to rebuild the engine and put that in my 35 ford 4 door. Show us some pics as the project progresses.

Jack.

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

Welcome to the forum. I used to work with a retired Indiana State Trooper who grew up in Fairmount, and went to school with James Dean. He told me a lot of stories, most of which I forget but he said the stories about James having a motorcycle were bogus. Said it was actually a motorscooter...........whodathunk James was just like Toad? He said he was also very introverted and stayed to himself quite a bit, but was generally a nice guy.

Horrible way to go though, and so young. Makes you wonder how huge of a star he would have become if he had lived. As for your 50 project, shoot us some pictures as you go, we love pictures.

Don

Hi Don,
Yes, I know the retired trooper you're speaking of. I noticed you're from Florida - did you meet Jim (the trooper) there or are you from Indiana?
As for James' motorcycle, I'm thinking one of his early motorcycles is in the small museum here in town. I'm glad to know that detail - something to follow up on, eh?
I've heard lots of accounts of James - some stories are great re-accountings, some are probably not suitable for publication. His 2 cousins who both still live near town are wonderful folks.
Take care.
Dave

Originally Posted by Jack F

Welcome Dave,

Show us some pics as the project progresses.

Jack.

Thanks for the welcome. I'll post some pics as soon as I can dig them out of my hard drive.

Dave

Originally Posted by Model Garage

Hi Don,
Yes, I know the retired trooper you're speaking of. I noticed you're from Florida - did you meet Jim (the trooper) there or are you from Indiana?
As for James' motorcycle, I'm thinking one of his early motorcycles is in the small museum here in town. I'm glad to know that detail - something to follow up on, eh?
I've heard lots of accounts of James - some stories are great re-accountings, some are probably not suitable for publication. His 2 cousins who both still live near town are wonderful folks.
Take care.
Dave

Haha, small world. Yep, Jim G. is the guy. Haven't seen Jim in probably 20 years, but we worked together at two places. I met him here in Florida on the first job. He's a wild a**, but was a good friend back then. We used to drive around the marina where we worked in a golf cart and Jim would do these "avoidance tactics" where we would be driving along at speed and suddenly he would do a 180 and take off the other way. Said it was something he learned as a Trooper. Wonder how he is? Next time you see his Cousins, ask about him please.

One day at work a young punk mechanic we worked with started mouthing off to Jim, getting in his face. I told him he better back off because Jim was used to dealing with guys most people don't want to know exist. That guy has no idea how close he came to getting his butt kicked BAD.

Don

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

Haha, small world. Yep, Jim G. is the guy. Haven't seen Jim in probably 20 years, but we worked together at two places. I met him here in Florida on the first job. He's a wild a**, but was a good friend back then. We used to drive around the marina where we worked in a golf cart and Jim would do these "avoidance tactics" where we would be driving along at speed and suddenly he would do a 180 and take off the other way. Said it was something he learned as a Trooper. Wonder how he is? Next time you see his Cousins, ask about him please.

One day at work a young punk mechanic we worked with started mouthing off to Jim, getting in his face. I told him he better back off because Jim was used to dealing with guys most people don't want to know exist. That guy has no idea how close he came to getting his butt kicked BAD.

Don

Jim G. is showing his age (I talked with him not long ago) but he is still active in various functions locally. I have some pictures of him somewhere when a newsgroup was in to interview him. He's quite the dashing guy. Some others have told me he was the "swoon" of all the girls in HS, he rode his motorcycle fast and always seemed to be one of the most popular guys in school. He always wore his trooper uniform with pride and distinction. He lost his wife to sickness several years ago.
The cousins I were referring to are cousins of James Dean. I may not have been clear in my earlier post.
Have a great day, Don, and take care.
Dave

I'm really sorry to hear about his wife passing. Wasn't her name Gerry or something like that? Very pretty lady. Yep, Jim was a ladies man, even when I knew him. Whenever a nice looking girl would come into work Jim suddenly lost interest in the conversation we were having, and his thoughts drifted her direction............come to think of it, mine did too. He was a charmer, that's for sure.

He was a good friend, but we just drifted apart as people sometimes do when you change jobs. If you see him again, tell him you spoke to Don who worked with him at the marinas, and that I said hi.

Don