On the morning of September 30, 1955 James Dean picked up his new Porshe Spyder that he recently purchased at an autoshop in Hollywood where he was having his car serviced in preparation for a race he was entering Salinas. Since the Porsche had less than the required mileage to enter the race Dean decided to drive the car up himself and was accompanied by mechanic Rolf Wutherich. 

Before heading out of town Dean stopped in Sherman Oaks, CA to fill up for gas. The last known photo of Dean was taken here while filling the car up.

On the way up at 3:30pm Dean was given a citation for speeding and afterwards he and Wutherich stopped at Blackwell’s Corner to purchase some apples. Shortly after continuing they approached an intersection near Cholame when 23 year old Donald Turnupseed was making a left turn, unaware of Dean approaching. James Dean saw Turnupseed and tried to swerve out of the way but could not avoid the impact.

Turnupseed walked away with minor injuries, Wutherich was thrown from the car and survived but Dean was rushed to the hospital and pronounced dead at 24.