Fairmount Indiana, home of James Dean. The 50th Anniversary,and Remembering James Dean Days is one large event that last a few days,with one of the largest custom rod car shows. It was a great time to be had,with 550 Little Bastards driving around in town. Fairmount is awesome if you are into James Dean, and want to hear Dean stories from real friends of James Dean. The photo below is a 550 spyder relica owned by Vic Bent,and shown driving with a James Dean look alike during the parade.
Attached thumbnail(s)
550 Sypder driving in the parade with Dean look alike. This James Dean Look alike lives near me in Michigan.
Attached thumbnail(s)
Vic Bent the owner of this great looking replica, was in California on 9-30-2005 making the James Dean drive to Cholame. I was wondering if any Porsche guys out there saw him with his 550.
Attached thumbnail(s)
This photo shows the Fairmount Historical Museum ,with another 550 replica on display. This 550 is one of six made by a group of engineers that worked for Studebaker. I will show more of this one later,it was many good details. The Museum is a must for James Dean fans,with many real items of Dean, even a note with how much the 550 spyder will cost after selling the 356,and a bike with the balance of 3,600.00 to pay for the spyder.
Attached thumbnail(s)
This photo show the Fairmount Bank on Main Street,in which photos of James Dean were taken with the bank in the background.
Attached image(s)
How many times in life do you see two Little Bastards together? Now only if they were aluminum body ones.
Attached thumbnail(s)
The scale of this car is shown with normal people standing around it.
Attached thumbnail(s)
Results:
3 listings matching "bent, v, NY"
2 non-published listings
The detail on this 550 from Ohio is one of six from Studebaker engineers. The detail around the exhaust is awesome!
Attached thumbnail(s)
Long time 550 researcher here....
Here is the most ultimate 550 replica ever created- no doubt... And its getting RAT power..
Here is the coachbuilt aluminum body as it was finished just last week. The customer is from the UK.
As you can see here this is no old school tube frame as original.. This is a true space frame..
The powerplant is retro custom with Silver carbon fiber abound.. just under 2400ccs of 9,000 RPM revvin power.. We are even installing twin plug heads (Thanks to Len) and its getting every trick under the sun including EFI and direct fire ignition.. a healthy dose of CR and a vengeful cam make it even better..
I do a ton of Spyder engines, but this one has beaten them all.. 1200 pounds and 250 HP!
It'll be seeing time at SPA, Monaco and Leman including a tour to the classic Leman in 2006!
Wow - Vic's car even has the driver's turn signal lense missing like Dean's car. That's attention to detail!
But he could have gotten rid of those beck versions of the turn signals and got the originals from dario
QUOTE (Jake Raby @ Oct 7 2005, 10:34 AM) |
But he could have gotten rid of those beck versions of the turn signals and got the originals from dario |
A view of the seats, and firewall of the interior.
Attached thumbnail(s)
Another Dean look alike if Dean would have been older,in Vic's 550.
Attached thumbnail(s)
One photo of an older Dean. This guy did a great job with James Dean movements during the James Dean look alike contest.
Attached thumbnail(s)
Back to the Studebaker 550 replica, with front ,and rear open for viewing all the great detail.
Attached thumbnail(s)
Front storage, and fuel tank area. Very nice detail!
Attached thumbnail(s)
Another view of the fuel tank,and all the close out panels in the storage area.
Attached thumbnail(s)
I had the pleasure of pitting with my brother next to J D at Santa Barbara when He first started. My brother also had a 550 then but Ken Miles was The top driver of the 550 then. He would race in the over 1500 class and blow most of the big boys off.
Bernie
I admire and lust after the porsche spyders, even the replicas....but that being said I don't understand why people want to paint them like someone else did, no matter who that person was or how famous. I guess I just don't get the cult of celebrity...own the car for whatever reason but make it yours...ok, flamesuit on, Dean fans blast away.
QUOTE (jimtab @ Oct 7 2005, 08:09 PM) |
I admire and lust after the porsche spyders, even the replicas....but that being said I don't understand why people want to paint them like someone else did, no matter who that person was or how famous. I guess I just don't get the cult of celebrity...own the car for whatever reason but make it yours...ok, flamesuit on, Dean fans blast away. |
QUOTE (bernbomb914 @ Oct 7 2005, 08:00 PM) |
I had the pleasure of pitting with my brother next to J D at Santa Barbara when He first started. My brother also had a 550 then but Ken Miles was The top driver of the 550 then. He would race in the over 1500 class and blow most of the big boys off. Bernie |
Another view of the engine from the passenger side.
Attached thumbnail(s)
Interior of the Studebaker 550 replica.
Attached thumbnail(s)
Steering wheel,and cluster of the 550.
Attached File(s)
550STUD7jpg ( 195.19k )
Number of downloads: 0
Front view with open front ,and rear panels.
Attached thumbnail(s)
This 550 Spyder is from the James Dean Gallery in Gas City just north of Fairmount.
Attached thumbnail(s)
This bike has alot of the detail of a 550 Spyder,from the tank matching the fenders,the fuel cap similar to the 550, the wheel design matching the 550. Rear fender of the bike matching the rear of the 550,and of course the paint and graphics.
Attached thumbnail(s)
Powered by Invision Power Board (http://www.invisionboard.com)
© Invision Power Services (http://www.invisionpower.com)