1 00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:08,000 Speaker 1: Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history 2 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:11,239 Speaker 1: is an open book, all of these amazing tales are 3 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:14,680 Speaker 1: right there on display, just waiting for us to explore. 4 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:29,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. Hollywood has its fair 5 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:33,040 Speaker 1: share of iconic automobiles. The winged race car from Chitty 6 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:36,240 Speaker 1: Chitty Bang Bang, the General Lee from The Dukes of Hazard, 7 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:39,120 Speaker 1: and perhaps the most famous car ever to grace the 8 00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:43,080 Speaker 1: silver screen, Doc Brown's DeLorean time machine from Back to 9 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:47,000 Speaker 1: the Future. But there is another car. Its story is 10 00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:49,960 Speaker 1: one of tragedy and horror, more like something out of 11 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:53,760 Speaker 1: a Stephen King novel than reality, but oddly enough, we've 12 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:58,800 Speaker 1: never seen it in a single film. The n Poor 13 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:01,920 Speaker 1: Spider was built as a racing car, meant for the 14 00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:06,080 Speaker 1: tracks rather than the open road. Its design was iconic. 15 00:01:06,560 --> 00:01:09,639 Speaker 1: It's sleek aluminum body sat low on a steel frame, 16 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:13,759 Speaker 1: hugging the ground as on horses pulled it along. Two 17 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:17,640 Speaker 1: large round headlights stared straight ahead, almost in surprise at 18 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:21,800 Speaker 1: just how fast that tiny car could go. In nineteen 19 00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:25,200 Speaker 1: fifty five, only one star had the audacity to drive 20 00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:27,959 Speaker 1: such a machine outside the confines of a closed track. 21 00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:33,160 Speaker 1: He was a cultural icon a legend, a rebel, James Dean. 22 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:37,679 Speaker 1: His story is one of misfortune, a young man taken 23 00:01:37,720 --> 00:01:40,920 Speaker 1: far too soon. His legacy lives on in his films, 24 00:01:40,959 --> 00:01:43,600 Speaker 1: which are still regarded as some of the most influential 25 00:01:43,720 --> 00:01:47,320 Speaker 1: in all of cinema. And that car, well, that car 26 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:51,600 Speaker 1: has a legacy all its own. It was in late 27 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:54,920 Speaker 1: September of nineteen fifty five win Dean's Porsche collided with 28 00:01:54,960 --> 00:01:58,440 Speaker 1: the nineteen fifty Ford Tutor, a hulking two door sedan 29 00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:01,600 Speaker 1: with chrome bumpers. He'd been on his way to Selina's, 30 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:04,840 Speaker 1: California for a race, pushing the car to its limit. 31 00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:07,960 Speaker 1: The Tutor had attempted to make a left, but didn't 32 00:02:07,960 --> 00:02:11,600 Speaker 1: see Dean careening down the road in time. The Porsche 33 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:15,160 Speaker 1: was a wreck, a crushed heap of metal and rubber that, 34 00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:19,280 Speaker 1: following Dean's death, was bought by George Barriss. If that 35 00:02:19,360 --> 00:02:22,640 Speaker 1: name sounds familiar, it's because George Barriss created some of 36 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:27,160 Speaker 1: film and television's most beloved cars, including Adam West's nineteen 37 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:31,760 Speaker 1: sixty six Batmobile. Barris had been the one to customize 38 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:35,080 Speaker 1: the Porsche for Dean before his crash. He put stripes 39 00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:38,240 Speaker 1: over the rear wheels, reupholstered the seats, and painted the 40 00:02:38,280 --> 00:02:41,680 Speaker 1: number one thirty on the doors, engine cover, and hood. 41 00:02:42,720 --> 00:02:45,520 Speaker 1: Barriss had the wrecked car towed to his shop, but 42 00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:48,760 Speaker 1: as it was being loaded onto the trailer, it slipped off, 43 00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:52,680 Speaker 1: trapping the mechanic underneath. When they removed the chassis, it 44 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:56,880 Speaker 1: was clear the man's leg had been broken. Barriss decided 45 00:02:56,960 --> 00:02:58,960 Speaker 1: it would be better to chop up the car and 46 00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:01,560 Speaker 1: sell some of the part it's off. A man named 47 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:05,079 Speaker 1: Troy McHenry bought the engine, while one William es Grid 48 00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:08,000 Speaker 1: bought the drive train. They put the components into their 49 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:10,639 Speaker 1: own cars and thought that a race between the two 50 00:03:10,639 --> 00:03:13,600 Speaker 1: of them would be a perfect display of the Porsche's 51 00:03:13,639 --> 00:03:18,639 Speaker 1: repurposed engineering. During the race, mckenry's car lost control and 52 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:22,760 Speaker 1: hit a tree. He died instantly. Es Grid was almost 53 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:25,680 Speaker 1: killed when his own vehicle locked up and flipped during 54 00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:30,519 Speaker 1: a turn. But Barriss, unconvinced of the spider's supposed curse, 55 00:03:30,880 --> 00:03:34,160 Speaker 1: would not be deterred. He sold two unscathed tires to 56 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:37,160 Speaker 1: a brand new owner, who ran off the road after 57 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:39,840 Speaker 1: both of them blew out at the same time. It 58 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:43,080 Speaker 1: seemed no part of this car wanted to be separated 59 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:46,720 Speaker 1: from the whole. Of course, owning such an infamous piece 60 00:03:46,720 --> 00:03:49,800 Speaker 1: of movie history brings its own problems, and no not 61 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:54,080 Speaker 1: of the supernatural kind. Two thieves attempted to steal pieces 62 00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:57,240 Speaker 1: of the Porsche from Barrass's garage, no doubt, to sell 63 00:03:57,280 --> 00:03:59,400 Speaker 1: them for a quick buck, But I've seen the car 64 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:02,040 Speaker 1: had other ends. The thief who tried to remove the 65 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:05,520 Speaker 1: steering wheels sliced his arm wide open, and his cohort, 66 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:08,480 Speaker 1: who had been struggling with one of the seats, suffered 67 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:13,400 Speaker 1: a similar injury. After all, the stories of various accidents 68 00:04:13,480 --> 00:04:16,440 Speaker 1: and depth surrounding the car got around, the only people 69 00:04:16,520 --> 00:04:19,280 Speaker 1: brave enough to take possession of it were the California 70 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:23,279 Speaker 1: Highway Patrol. They wanted a striking display for their highway 71 00:04:23,279 --> 00:04:27,240 Speaker 1: safety museum to scare people into being more defensive drivers, 72 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:30,080 Speaker 1: and what better example than the most famous car wreck 73 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:33,400 Speaker 1: of all time. They carded the metal carcass off to 74 00:04:33,520 --> 00:04:37,600 Speaker 1: a police garage, which quickly burned down after accepting it 75 00:04:37,640 --> 00:04:42,279 Speaker 1: through the doors. The car, however, suffered no damage, well 76 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:46,000 Speaker 1: no more than it already had. The wreck then moved 77 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:48,120 Speaker 1: to an exhibit at a local high school, where it 78 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:52,000 Speaker 1: flipped off its mount and broke a student's hip. James 79 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:54,960 Speaker 1: Dean's zippy little race car had developed the blood lust 80 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:58,039 Speaker 1: of sorts. Having had enough of the bizarre events surrounding 81 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:00,960 Speaker 1: the car, the highway patrol did it onto a truck 82 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:04,760 Speaker 1: bound for storage. If I were a betting man, I'd 83 00:05:04,760 --> 00:05:07,200 Speaker 1: bet that truck never made it, and I'd be right. 84 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:10,520 Speaker 1: It flipped during transport and the driver was tossed from 85 00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:13,919 Speaker 1: the cab. He landed somehow in the path of the spider, 86 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:18,720 Speaker 1: which fell from the back of the truck and crushed him. 87 00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:22,240 Speaker 1: Barris knew something had to give. He bought the car back. 88 00:05:22,640 --> 00:05:25,400 Speaker 1: No one else needed to get hurt or die over it. 89 00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:28,440 Speaker 1: But it was during this final transport back to his 90 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:33,280 Speaker 1: garage when the strangest thing happened yet the car vanished. 91 00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:38,440 Speaker 1: No one has seen it ever since. You might think 92 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:41,039 Speaker 1: that the curse, if you believe in such a thing, 93 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:45,120 Speaker 1: began with James Dean's death, as though his vengeful spirit 94 00:05:45,200 --> 00:05:48,320 Speaker 1: had inhabited the car. Doo mean all who dared to 95 00:05:48,360 --> 00:05:51,280 Speaker 1: own a piece of it. But you'd be surprised if 96 00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:54,800 Speaker 1: you knew the truth and the other person responsible for it, 97 00:05:55,680 --> 00:05:58,840 Speaker 1: just after he had the car upgraded by Barriss. James 98 00:05:58,839 --> 00:06:02,760 Speaker 1: Dean ran into an other famous actor outside a Hollywood restaurant. 99 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:05,040 Speaker 1: He invited him to take a look at his new 100 00:06:05,160 --> 00:06:08,600 Speaker 1: ride parked out front. The actor walked around the little 101 00:06:08,640 --> 00:06:11,320 Speaker 1: Porsche and then turned to Dean with a sour look 102 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:14,400 Speaker 1: on his face and said, if you get in that car, 103 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:17,360 Speaker 1: you'll be found dead in it by this time next week. 104 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:21,640 Speaker 1: He was right too. Dean died in that car crash 105 00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:25,000 Speaker 1: seven days later, and the actor who had given him 106 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:29,520 Speaker 1: the ominous warning none other than Obi Wan Kenobi himself, 107 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:46,480 Speaker 1: Sir Alec Guinness. There's a reason so many people are 108 00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:49,960 Speaker 1: afraid of heights, except it's not the heights they're afraid of, 109 00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:53,720 Speaker 1: rather the risk of falling. The World Health Organization has 110 00:06:53,839 --> 00:06:58,320 Speaker 1: estimated that each year about sixty thousand people die from 111 00:06:58,400 --> 00:07:02,320 Speaker 1: some kind of fall, for simple stumbles to Christmas light 112 00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:05,760 Speaker 1: disasters on the roof. Humans just can't seem to stay 113 00:07:05,760 --> 00:07:09,520 Speaker 1: on their feet or land on them well most of 114 00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:11,760 Speaker 1: the time. That is because many of us have heard 115 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:14,440 Speaker 1: stories of people who have fallen from airplanes and lived 116 00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:17,240 Speaker 1: to tell the tale. In fact, between nineteen forty and 117 00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:21,640 Speaker 1: two thousand eight, fifty seven people fell from airplanes during 118 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:26,480 Speaker 1: crashes and survived. A fall from a great height isn't 119 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:29,120 Speaker 1: always a death sentence, as long as you have somewhere 120 00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:33,680 Speaker 1: nice and comfy to land. Water works well as the snow. However, 121 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:36,120 Speaker 1: in the case of one man in nineteen thirties Detroit, 122 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:40,480 Speaker 1: a safe landing meant using whoever was available. Yes, you 123 00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:45,800 Speaker 1: heard me right, whoever. Joseph Figlock probably didn't expect to 124 00:07:45,800 --> 00:07:48,280 Speaker 1: be involved in a freak accident that day. He had 125 00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:51,000 Speaker 1: been sweeping up an alley when it happened. It had 126 00:07:51,040 --> 00:07:55,120 Speaker 1: fallen from above. No, not a meteor or an airplane, 127 00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:58,040 Speaker 1: not even a rogue satellite thrown down from its orbit. 128 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:02,400 Speaker 1: It was a baby, and it lived four stories above him. 129 00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:05,680 Speaker 1: Whoever had been watching the child, perhaps the mother or 130 00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:08,400 Speaker 1: a nanny, had lost track of him. When he found 131 00:08:08,440 --> 00:08:11,920 Speaker 1: the open window, seeing a new space to explore, the 132 00:08:11,960 --> 00:08:15,920 Speaker 1: baby crawled toward it, and, once at the precipice, kept going. 133 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:19,720 Speaker 1: It's a good thing Joseph had decided to do a 134 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:23,320 Speaker 1: little cleaning that day, otherwise things might have gone much differently. 135 00:08:23,880 --> 00:08:26,840 Speaker 1: The baby landed right on top of his head and shoulders. 136 00:08:27,440 --> 00:08:30,760 Speaker 1: Both of them suffered minor injuries, but the baby survived 137 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:33,920 Speaker 1: the ordeal. It was probably more traumatic for the mother, 138 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:36,560 Speaker 1: who wondered where her child might have gone, only to 139 00:08:36,640 --> 00:08:40,000 Speaker 1: panic at the site of the open window. And Joseph 140 00:08:40,040 --> 00:08:44,200 Speaker 1: Figlock was a hero, albeit an unintentional one, But he 141 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:48,440 Speaker 1: didn't let his accidental status go to his head. He 142 00:08:48,520 --> 00:08:51,079 Speaker 1: carried on with his life as usual, sweeping out the 143 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:54,719 Speaker 1: alley each day, expecting what anyone else might have expected, 144 00:08:55,080 --> 00:08:57,280 Speaker 1: that what had happened to him would be a one 145 00:08:57,360 --> 00:09:02,560 Speaker 1: time occurrence. Except the following year, another child, this one 146 00:09:02,679 --> 00:09:05,440 Speaker 1: a little bit older than the first, decided an open 147 00:09:05,480 --> 00:09:08,240 Speaker 1: window would be the perfect place to play. He drifted 148 00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:12,080 Speaker 1: too close and lost his footing, falling four stories towards 149 00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:16,280 Speaker 1: his impending death below. Well, he would have, except a 150 00:09:16,280 --> 00:09:18,680 Speaker 1: certain person happened to be standing between the boy and 151 00:09:18,720 --> 00:09:22,760 Speaker 1: the pavement. Joseph Figlock at once again found himself in 152 00:09:22,800 --> 00:09:27,880 Speaker 1: the precarious position of catching a falling child. Neither Joseph 153 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:31,560 Speaker 1: nor the toddler were seriously injured in the fall, though 154 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:34,040 Speaker 1: I'm sure Joseph kept his eyes to the sky while 155 00:09:34,120 --> 00:09:38,080 Speaker 1: sweeping the alley. From that point forward, it must have 156 00:09:38,080 --> 00:09:41,240 Speaker 1: been surprising to learn that while lightning might not strike 157 00:09:41,280 --> 00:09:49,199 Speaker 1: the same spot twice. Babies certainly can. I hope you've 158 00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:53,240 Speaker 1: enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe 159 00:09:53,280 --> 00:09:55,880 Speaker 1: for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the 160 00:09:55,920 --> 00:10:00,680 Speaker 1: show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was 161 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:04,600 Speaker 1: created by me Aaron Manky in partnership with how Stuff Works. 162 00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:08,160 Speaker 1: I make another award winning show called Lore, which is 163 00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:11,679 Speaker 1: a podcast, book series, and television show, and you can 164 00:10:11,760 --> 00:10:14,080 Speaker 1: learn all about it over at the World of Lore 165 00:10:14,320 --> 00:10:18,040 Speaker 1: dot com. And until next time, stay curious.