This is a Rare Framed Champion Spark Plug poster of James Dean and his 550 Porsche Spider "Little Bastard". This is the original first printing and has been sealed in a protective frame. It is crisp and white and there are no creases. On September 21, as Dean was finishing Giant, he suddenly traded in his Speedster at Competition Motors for a new, more powerful and faster 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder and entered the upcoming Salinas Road Race event scheduled for October 1–2. He also purchased a new 1955 Ford Country Squire station wagon to use for towing the "Little Bastard" to and from the races on an open wheel car trailer. On September 30, 1955, Dean and his Porsche factory-trained mechanic, Rolf Wütherich, were at Competition Motors in Hollywood preparing the "Little Bastard" for the weekend sports car races at Salinas. Dean originally intended to tow the Porsche behind his Ford station wagon, driven by Hickman and accompanied by professional photographer Sanford H. Roth, who was planning a photo story of Dean at the races for Collier's magazine. Because the Spyder did not have enough "break-in" miles prior to the race, Wütherich recommended that Dean drive it to Salinas to get more "seat time" behind the wheel. I defer to James Dean Aficionado Lee Raskin for his comments on the poster: “ The Champion Spark Plug Poster was a photo taken by Sanford Roth at Competition Motors on the morning of 9-30-55 (the day of the fatal accident.) Shown in the image are: Porsche factory mechanic Rolf Wutherich, (who survived the crash later in the day that killed Dean) kneeling on the passenger side, James Dean and Bill Hickman (a movie stuntman, who Dean invited to drive the station wagon with the trailer and who later in his career was the featured driver, with thick rimmed glasses, of the Dodge Charter R/T that chased Steve McQueen through the hills of San Francisco in the movie "Bullitt" was standing on the driver's side). Hickman is shown holding a box of Champion Spark plugs that Wutherich would install….. The original image showed the Porsche crest on the front hood. Porsche threw a fit that their permission wasn't given. Champion said OK Porsche, we'll just fix that. They simply airbrushed the crest away and put a banner over the bottom portion....hence the 2nd Printing (the black border version). These posters were given away at auto parts stores across the U.S. Another detail on the original poster was a single spark plug drawing at the top.….. It's the white border that is the real deal!" Lee . From the PORSCHE 356 Registry Website: /356talk/1/17215.html Champion “recalled" all of the original white posters and “reissued" the black posters with the modifications to satisfy Porsche. As a result, very few of the original white posters survived. Note that this poster has the white border, the single spark plug at the top and the Porsche crest on the hood and was printed in 1988. This is the "real deal". This poster measures approximately. 18" X 27". Own a piece of HISTORY!

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