AUTHOR Raskin

ISBN 10     1893618498

ISBN 13     9781893618497

PRICE             $25.00

LIST PRICE     $29.95

AVAILABLE @ BLOCKS BOOKS

FROM MY REVIEW IN THE 356 REGISTRY:

James Dean at Speed, Lee Raskin will go a long way to filling what appears to be a fifty years void of information about an actor who must have driven a Porsche for several thousands of miles before dying in one.  The production values of the book are extremely impressive, though I think the book to be soft bound.  I reviewed the book from a CD since the definitive paper version was on a slow boat from China – do you know how hard it is to read a book on a 13” laptop screen?  Neither the vertical, nor horizontal dimensions fit and still leave readable words and one doesn’t just go down, every other page it is necessary to go sideways.

The book shows an immense amount of research.  There photographs form dean’s youth, with which I won’t bore you except to note that Deans was an impressive athlete.  Every single race run by Dean is accompanied not only by photographs, many previously unpublished – but also by the program, dash plaque and pit pass of each race.

For the price of the book you get a reprint of the May 1955 R & T Speedster 1500S road test (with Ken Miles’ Flying Shingle Mk II in full color on the cover).  On the opposite page is James Dean playing chess with Giant cast member Perry Lopez with May1955issue on table.  However, I would that Dean’s 1500S was a 528/2 (actually the first 3 piece super case) not a 546 as listed.

The book is filled with interesting facts, even if one restricts interesting to Porsche rather than silver screen interests.  Dean had on order a Lotus Mk X (Lee reprints an R&T roads test of the much more common Lotus IX), which was to be fitted with an Offenhauser motor – apparently because a Spyder would not be available until the fall.  But the Lotus did not show up schedule (the more things change) or indeed before the Spyder.  Dean wanted to form his own production company to produce two movies:  this favorite book the Little Prince and the Flying Mantuan biography of Tazio Nuvolari. 

Finally, in chapter nine the 550 shows up.  Pictured are a stamped reproduction of 550-048 serial plate with engine *90059*, trans 10046, and a photo apparently showing Zora Duntov’s 550 at LeMans.  Jimmy’s Spyder was the usual factory silver with pale red interior – “called hell pot red”  -- do you suppose helles rot (light red in German) is what was meant?  Jimmy von Neumann initially turned down Jimmy’s request to buy the 550 and suggested Jimmy finish the season driving his Speedster.  The Spyder was $6800 and von Neumann offered $3000 trade-in on the Speedster.  It’s interesting that even with 3 major movies and plans to form his own production company, Dean had to borrow the $3800 to pay for the Spyder. The next day Jimmy’s friend Lew Bracker even exchanged his almost brand new normal Speedster for Jimmy’s Speedster.  Lew Bracker went on to become an extremely competent and successful Porsche driver and first president of POC – which however, still exists and was not the predecessor of the PCA.

The last drive is covered in extreme detail.  Interestingly the black & white photo of Dean & Wutherich was taken by von Neumann’s publicist, while the famous color photos were taken with Dean’s Leica.  Reprinted – though not in the well-known poster’s “Photostat” white on black is Dean’s citation for 65 in a 55 zone.  A neat touch, much like the use of the programs, is the use of period full color gas company maps to show Dean’s route.  Many sources are drawn upon to cover accident – if several extraordinarily opinionated contributors to the 356TALK thread on the accident had been able to consult this book, millions of pixels would not have be sacrificed.