HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena, as catalogued
On September 30, 1955, James Dean's Porsche 550 Spider collided at this junction; a stainless steel monument installed by a Japanese fan in 1977 marks the site, now officially the James Dean Memorial Junction.
19215 CA-46, Cholame, CA 93461
Research updated September 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Monument and memorial area are freely accessible. Jack Ranch Cafe adjacent to memorial.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Flat parking lot and walkway. Monument is in the parking lot area at the former Cholame post office building, now Jack Ranch Cafe.
Equipment
Photos OK
Death of James Dean, September 30, 1955 · 1977 Seita Ohnishi stainless steel memorial · Designated James Dean Memorial Junction, 2005
James Dean was driving his new 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder — nicknamed 'Little Bastard' — east on what is now State Route 46, accompanied by German Porsche mechanic Rolf Wütherich, en route to a race at Salinas. At the junction with Highway 41 near Cholame, at approximately 5:45 p.m., a 1950 Ford Tudor driven by 23-year-old California Polytechnic student Donald Turnupseed turned left across Dean's lane. Dean attempted a maneuver to avoid the collision but had insufficient time and space. The vehicles struck nearly head-on.
Dean was pronounced dead on arrival at Paso Robles War Memorial Hospital at 6:20 p.m. His listed cause of death was a broken neck, multiple fractures of the jaw, broken arms, and internal injuries. He was 24 years old. Wütherich survived with a broken jaw and hip injuries. Turnupseed sustained minor facial bruises and a bloodied nose.
The intersection was redesigned in subsequent decades and is now referred to as the 'Cholame Y.' Fatality statistics at the corridor have continued to run above state averages. In 1977, Seita Ohnishi of Kobe, Japan — a devoted Dean admirer — commissioned a memorial sculpture in Japan, transported it to Cholame, and had it installed surrounding a tree of heaven in front of the former post office building, now the Jack Ranch Cafe. A plaque was added in 1983. The State of California officially designated the crash junction as 'James Dean Memorial Junction' in 2005, marked by a green sign on CA-46.
Sources
The mythology surrounding Dean's Porsche 550 Spyder grew substantially in the years following his death. After the crash, the car was acquired by salvage dealers and its components were sold separately. The engine was installed in a racing car driven by Dr. Troy McHenry, who was killed when the car lost a wheel during a race at Pomona. The transmission went into another racer driven by William Eschrid, who was seriously injured in a crash at the same event. The tires, sold to another driver, both blew out simultaneously during a race.
The Spyder's chassis was loaded onto a transport truck and sent to a highway safety exhibition. The truck driver was killed when the vehicle skidded off the road. The chassis disappeared from that accident scene and has never been officially recovered, despite periodic claims of sightings over the decades. This cluster of subsequent incidents is the core of the 'curse of the Little Bastard' narrative, which has circulated in automotive and Hollywood mythology since the late 1950s.
At the physical crash site today, the green 'James Dean Memorial Junction' sign at the CA-46/CA-41 intersection draws a consistent flow of visitors who leave flowers, photographs, packs of Chesterfield cigarettes (Dean's brand), license plates, sunglasses, and other personal tributes at the barbed wire fences along the shoulder. No ghost or apparition tradition is consistently attached to the junction in primary sources; the site's dark tourism gravity comes from the documented facts and the ongoing memorial culture.
Notable Entities
Where this legend is told
Visit the stainless steel memorial monument in the parking lot at the former Cholame post office (now Jack Ranch Cafe), then continue approximately one mile west on CA-46 to the intersection signed as James Dean Memorial Junction — the approximate crash location. Fans leave mementos at the junction's barbed wire fences. Jack Ranch Cafe carries Dean memorabilia.
Some links on this page may earn HauntBound a small commission when you book, at no extra cost to you. Our editorial picks are independent. Full disclosure
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Free Guide
10 verified stops, rated for families, mapped in order. Free.
One email to confirm, then the guide link. Unsubscribe anytime.
Los Angeles, CA
The Ambassador Hotel operated from 1921 to 1989 on Wilshire Boulevard and served as the site of six Academy Awards ceremonies, multiple presidential stays, and the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy on June 5, 1968. Kennedy was shot in the service pantry off the Embassy Ballroom minutes after winning the California Democratic primary and died 25 hours later at Good Samaritan Hospital. The hotel was demolished in 2005–2006; LAUSD preserved the original pantry and Cocoanut Grove ballroom within the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools campus.
Death Valley National Park, CA
Barker Ranch sits in the Panamint Valley near the southern end of Death Valley National Park. Originally a cattle ranch, it became the final base of operations for Charles Manson and members of his group in the weeks following the August 1969 Tate and LaBianca killings in Los Angeles. On October 12, 1969, Inyo County Sheriff's deputies and National Park Service rangers raided the property. Manson was discovered hiding under a bathroom vanity cabinet. A second raid on October 15 resulted in further arrests. The wooden structure burned in 2009; the remaining stone shell and a fenced perimeter with an NPS interpretive marker occupy the site today.
Truckee, CA
In the fall of 1846, a wagon party of 87 emigrants took the Hastings Cutoff and arrived at the Sierra Nevada too late to cross before winter. Snowbound at approximately 6,000 feet elevation near present-day Truckee from late October 1846 through April 1847, 41 of the 87 died of starvation and exposure. Surviving members consumed the flesh of the dead. The site is a National Historic Landmark. California State Parks operates it with a museum, the preserved Murphy cabin foundation, and the 22-foot Pioneer Monument.