James Dean, the speed racer: Rare photos of film star taken months before he died go up for auction

By Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 18:10 EST, 5 March 2014 | UPDATED: 18:11 EST, 5 March 2014


Thirty-four rare photos of actor and car-racing enthusiast James Dean are set to go up for auction later this month.

The images, taken by journalist Gus Vignolle in 1955, show a xx-year-old Dean racing in a Porche Speedster in Palm Springs – his first time competing in the vehicle.

Buyers of the images, the negatives of which had been missing for over 50 years, will also win their entire reproduction rights.

For sale: This rare 1955 photo of James Dean - which shows the actor alongside a Porsche Speedster - will go up for auction later on March 22 and 23 in El Segundo, California

For sale: This rare 1955 photo of James Dean - which shows the actor alongside a Porsche Speedster - will go up for auction later on March 22 and 23 in El Segundo, California

The images show Dean in his speed racing glory days, complete with roughed-up hair, perfectly broken-in clothes, and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

 

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Vignolle, who died in 1982 at the age of 69, had taken the photos for MotoRacing –  his now-defunct sports car magazine. He and Dean became fast friends as a result.

Dean, a renegade actor, would only race two more times before he died in a fatal car crash in a 550 Porsche Spyder on his way to a competition in Salinas, California that September.

Fast friends: A birthday card that Dean sent photographer Gus Vignolle after the two met during a photo shoot will also be auctioned off

Fast friends: A birthday card that Dean sent photographer Gus Vignolle after the two met during a photo shoot will also be auctioned off

His daughter Zaz Vignolle Clark recently discovered the rare photos’ negatives while sorting through her father’s archives.

Their auction will be hosted by Premiere Props on March 22 and 23 in El Segundo, California.

Premiere Props’s vice president Dan Levin said of the auction in a release: ‘James Dean is a true American Icon. We are thrilled to be able to offer fans the chance to own these rare photographs, as they truly are a find.’

In addition to the photos, Premiere Props will also sell a signed birthday card that James Dean sent to Vignolle.

Other memorabilia: Premiere Props, which is hosting the auction of Dean's images, will also sell a variety of film relics like this mask from Planet of the Apes

Other memorabilia: Premiere Props, which is hosting the auction of Dean's images, will also sell a variety of film relics like this mask from Planet of the Apes

The movie memorabilia company is known for selling some of the world’s most sought-after Hollywood props.

Its James Dean auction will be accompanied by the selling of more than 1,000 props from films including Gone with the Wind, Cleopatra, and Planet of the Apes.

Freakier fare includes strands of Elvis Presley’s hair, as well as those of Marilyn Monroe.

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