Cursed Cars......

[dancin'hamster]

So...............how many imes have you heard that an item is cursed or jinxed?

How can an inanimate object posibly carry an ill-will towards any living creature?

Well, get a load of this........

'In 1914, a French motor manufacturing firm named Phaeton built a long open-topped vehicle that could carry six people. The car was painted blood-red, and this colour turned out to be very appropriate, because this vehicle was later surrounded by death and tragedy. In July 1914, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife sat in the rear seats of the red car, and in the front of the vehicle with the chauffeur sat a general and two other notaries. The brand new car was on a tour of Sarajevo, and halfway through the tour, a man ran from a line of people who were waving little flags of Bosnia, and he hurled a bomb at the red car, obviously intending to destroy it and its passengers. But the bomb didn't go off, but bounced off the car's bodywork and rolled behind the vehicle, where four guards were following on horseback. The bomb suddenly exploded, and the blast took down the four unfortunate horses and sent the guards flying into the crowds. The red car carrying the Archduke speeded up and drove on. Minutes later, for some strange reason that has never been explained, the driver of the red car turned the vehicle into a dead-end street which was not a part of the planned route. Seconds after the unscheduled stop, a young Bosnian student ran from a doorway in the street and crossed the cobbled road. He drew a pistol and jumped onto the running board of the red car and emptied six bullets into the shocked Archduke and his wife at point-blank range. The Archduke's wife was dead, and blood was gushing out of her mouth turning her white dress the same colour as the car - blood red. The Archduke also began to cough, and splutter, and blood cascaded from his mouth and the other bullet holes that dotted his body. In those days it was customary to sew up the uniform, so the Archduke bled to death by the time his coat was opened up to treat him. The student who had killed the Archduke and his wife was Gavrilo Princip, and the double assassination he committed was solely responsible for sowing the seeds to the First World War which claimed the lives of millions.

In 1914, an Austrian general took command of the red car that the Archduke had been assassinated in, and 9 days later, the military man suffered a catastrophic defeat against the Serbians, and he was sent to Vienna in disgrace. He couldn't take the shame and he later went insane and died mysteriously. The red car then passed into the hands of Captain Raska, another Austrian. During his first trip in the car, Captain Raska was rounding a bend on a mountain when he suddenly saw two peasants in the road ahead. The captain swerved to avoid them and crashed into a tree. His final agonizing screams were horrifying; the steering wheel had gone through Captain Raska's chest, and he begged the peasants to shoot him as he almost choked on his blood. A few minutes later he stopped screaming and died.

The unlucky car then came into the possession of the Governor of Sarajevo, a man named Alexandrovac, who was a vintage car enthusiast. He had four accidents with the car in four months, then crashed and lost his right arm in the impact. Six months later the car was found upside down in a ditch, and the governor was inside, crushed to death. His neck was also broken. The next owner of the red car was a doctor. He laughed at all the local talk about the car being cursed, but within months his body was found under the car's tyres. No one knows how the doctor came to be under the car, but the vehicle had somehow rolled over the doctor and had crushed his spine. The car was then purchased by a wealthy landowner named Graco. One day the red car stopped dead. Graco got a farmer to tow the vehicle with a horse-drawn cart, but halfway through the journey, the car suddenly started up again. It killed the farmer and his horse, and the driver was thrown through the windscreen and bled to death. The car was repainted a blue colour and purchased by a man named Tiber Hirschfield. He was taking five passengers on a short journey in the jinxed car one day when he suddenly lost control of the vehicle. The car smashed into a wall and all six people in it were killed instantly. The car was repaired and five more people died while driving it over the next six years. The vehicle was finally put on display at a Vienna transport museum. One morning, in 1944, the curator of this museum arrived at the building and told work colleagues he had experienced terrible nightmares the night before about losing his head. Later in the evening, an English bomber plane dropped its load on the museum in Vienna, and the jinxed car was blown into thousands of tiny pieces. In the explosion, part of the panelling from the car flew across the room and decapitated the curator of the museum who had earlier talked about the nightmares he'd had about losing his head.

Another unlucky car was the one the Hollywood actor James Dean died in after a tragic motoring accident in September 1955. After the accident, when the wreck of Dean's car was being towed to a garage, the engine slipped and fell onto a mechanic, breaking both of his legs. The engine was then bought by a doctor, who put it into a racing car. This doctor was killed when his car crashed within days. A man who had bought the drive shaft from Dean's car also died the same day in a car crash. As Dean's car was later being repaired in a garage, a fire of unknown origin broke out and almost destroyed the vehicle. The jinxed car was then put on display at Sacramento, but it mysteriously fell off its mount and landed on a teenager, crushing his hip. The car was then taken to Oregon, where it fell off a truck that was carrying it, and the car smashed through a shop front. Finally, in 1959, for reasons that were never explained, Dean's car suddenly broke into 11 pieces while sitting on stationary steel supports.'

Suddenly my ancient Peugeot seems to be an attractive proposition.....

Hammy x x x

[Cufflink]

I've heard that story about Dean's car before, Hammy, but I didn't know about Archduke Ferdinand's lucky runaround. (That's the second thread about him...check out the White Lady thread)

If a house can absorb negative feelings, why not a car?

Did you ever hear about the premonition of Dean's death. Sir Laurence Olivier was with James Dean and a few others, as Dean was getting into that car. Olivier suddenly said, "If you get into that car, you'll be dead" (or words to that effect). Bizarrely, Olivier didn't know why he said it, and the other people present felt it didn't even sound like his voice.

[Rakshasas]

*cocks head*

Diddn`t Deans car also go off its mounts killing a person??

[dancin'hamster]

umm........not sure!

I've only read that it crushed a teenagers' legs and hips!

I think it was when the car was scrapped that a piece of metal shot out and killed someone - but this is probably just a story to make the whole thing MORE bizarre!

Hammy x x x

[Cufflink]

James Dean's cursed car was a 1955 Porsche Spyder, which he christened "Little b******", the name Dean himself earned from his dialogue coach on the movie, Giant.

The picture shows Dean in the infamous car.

[Cufflink]

And now, cursed car fans, we also present the blood-red death mobile of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

The picture shows the Archduke and his wife getting into the car.

[Cufflink]

A shilling is a piece of money- according to a naughty colonial

And just HOW naughty are you, sarky?!

[Cufflink]

A shilling is a piece of money- according to a naughty colonial

And just HOW naughty are you, sarky?!

You'll have to come to the state if u really want to know, but don't tell Snuff.

Booking my plane ticket now....

Only kidding, snuffy.

*might go by boat, instead*

[Cufflink]

All righty then,

Just remember we don't put petrol in the lorry, we put gas in the truck...

Would that be a cursed truck?

[AnimangaBloodThorn]

Everyone meet the real life Christine, lol. I love that movie...and these stories. I wonder if my mom's car doesn't like me. Everytime I go to drive it, the door comes open...scary.

Cya!

~Becky

[greattenchim]

hate to drive those cars!

[DeadRobot]

My 4th car I got at a car auction, a Vauxhall(General Motors/Opel) Astra 1.6l i green. When i was driving this car by night I'd often catch a dark figure sitting in the back seat in my rear view mirror. On really warm nights in the car i would have my hand resting over the gear stick and the back of my hand would be almost freezing and like someones breath tickling it even when the car was stationary, the in car air blower off, the weather conditions completely calm and as i said it being a warm evening. The car being 2nd hand and not knowing much about it's previous owner(s) I couldn't say whether or not it had someone pass away in it or pervious owner passing due to old age/such like. I sold it to a garage as they liked the car and the repairs that were required to pass it's MOT (annual saftey check) cost the same ammount as I origionally bought the car for. In a strange sense i miss the strange goings on of that car as even tho it gave me chills it also felt like i had company, in a good sense, almost like whatever it was (possibly my imagination but others felt the temp of the back of my hand too and would feel unerved by the back seats) was keeping an eye on me and gave me a sense of assurance.

Edited May 10, 2006 by DeadRobot

[greywolf]

i have the most cursed car in america! everytime it won't start,i curse it.james dean did a tv spot about speeding not long before he was killed.

[bLu3 de 3n3rgy]

My dad had a car once that had odd stuff happen in it. I posted this story on another thread recently, but since this one is about cars i'll post it again

Each morning without fail the passenger seat would be rolled right back, we had the seat checked for safety reasons, nothing was found wrong or faulty with it. We tested out various theories to find no explaination. Even checking regualry that the seat was up in its correct position last thing at night, by morning it would be rolled out again. Car was securly parked, alarmed and mobilzed. This went on the entire time my Dad had this car which was about 5 years.

[novaceleste]

Yes, I've heard the story of James Dean. I think it is kinda eerie, yet intresting. I saw a show about him not too long ago. It was Dead Famous. For anyone out there that gets the Biography channel, you need to check this show out. It comes on Tuesday nights. Each episode features a different famous person that has passed. I found the one of James Dean one of the most intresting.

[EDW74]

I just wanted to say, that on the most fundamental levels, it is the belief in the curse that lends credence to it. Furthermore, it is a case of beliefs being rationalized as curses that leads to legendary curses like the James dean Porche spider curse.

[jonb]

dont you think the car after 10 + accidents would be well, unuseable?

are you sure its not just the same type of car?

[DeadRobot]

That's just creepy :s4 :s4 :s4 .... Another good reason to ride the bus.

I believe objects such as cars could be cursed. I just think it would take some time to become cursed, but in this case the car was made in 1914, and was already cursed from the moment it was driven off the lot.

I think this weekend I'm gonna rent that Stephen King about the cursed car, and have myself a good scare.

Not too unlike the haunted computer posts an explanation of this is that the metals within the freshly produced cars/pcs/toasters etc might have a strong negative energy within them (or be haunted), generating unluckiness against the owner of the metals in question. So they might not require time to become cursed or haunted if the materials were haunted/cursed/contain negative energies pre-production.

[DeadRobot]

Actually, anyone had a misbehaving toaster that speaks when it shouldn't moves about or anything unusual like that? (Thinks he should make a new thread with this but it seems too silly to start.)

[coldethyl]

In my last car I always felt like someone was pushing on the back of the driver's seat. Just at random times, no rhyme or reason. It was purchased new so it didn't have a history, but I would feel like someone was pushing their knees into the back seat when I was driving. It was weird.

[Davey1000]

As to the "cursed car", in that era they were ALL cursed and the motor traffic death rate was phenomenal. By "cursed" I mean that the cars only had brakes on the two rear wheels and these were of course drum brakes, I happen to own a book about antique cars and one of the cars described therein is a Vauxhall six cylinder with 100 horsepower but with brakes on only the two rear wheels. Nearly all cars were like that in those days and it wasn't until around the 1920s that four wheel braking started to be introduced. It is also noteworthy that in the bad old days there were no driving tests and no speed limits on main roads. Anyone who had sufficient money could just buy a car, jump in and drive. If they lived long enough they might eventually master the art of driving.

In the early days in England.motor cars were not very popular because of the "Red Flag Act" as it is usually called. This act stipulated that drivers of mechanically propelled vehicles had to employ a man to walk in front of the vehicle at four miles per hour carrying a red flag. Once this act was repealed people wanted cars but they had no driving experience.

Allegedly in England the motor traffic death rate was higher in 1920 than it is today. This is an absolutely amazing fact considering how few the number of cars was. The tyres were very narrow cross-plies so if there ever was any grip it would not compare with what we now have. Crumple zones and seat belts hadn't even been thought of and the lighting was most inferior to that used today. Those veteran and vintage cars were, to put it bluntly, death traps.

An interesting experiment which unfortunately cannot be done, would be to lend a boy racer a replica of a 1915 car and see how long it would take before they both become a write-off. I would guess less than a week.

[Mantis914]

umm........not sure!

I've only read that it crushed a teenagers' legs and hips!

I think it was when the car was scrapped that a piece of metal shot out and killed someone - but this is probably just a story to make the whole thing MORE bizarre!

Hammy x x x

Love that name, makes me think of when Curly said, "Put on those eggs and hammy!"

My Storm has had some funny stuff happen in it where stuff falls under the passenger seat and then disappears forever no matter how much I look under the seat...

[Davey1000]

I did reply to this "cursed car" thread before but it seems that my explanation was too down to earth and was scrubbed.

I will try once again! I have one or two books about motor cars which were written between 1900 and 1920 as far as I can tell. Car makes included Crossley of Manchester UK and also Napier. The larger cars would have six cylinder engines which would surely produce about one hundred horsepower. The brakes would not be so good unfortunately as in that era brakes were only fitted to the rear axle. There were no driving tests, no seat belts, no roll cages, no crumple zones and no air-bags. Many cars would be the open type and if they rolled the passengers would be thrown out or worse, crushed underneath the upturned vehicle.

In the UK the number of people killed on the roads in the 1920s was about three times higher than it is today. As there were only about one million cars on the road then and as there are about thirty millions on the roads now it looks as if motoring was ninety times more dangerous. In actual fact that figure would be very wrong as cars seldom made long journeys like they do now. In terms of road deaths per mile the figures would be HUNDREDS of times higher.

Antique cars that only had rear wheel brakes used to crash quite regularly and it was not until 1920 that four wheel hydraulic brakes reached the market.

Take care!

[Redefining Success]

Davey, You say that cars of an early era were death traps, only had rear brakes and poor lighting.

Well they are, by todays standards, but then they were more than likely cutting edge technology, most cars could barely achieve 20mph, and although thats fast enough to cause death and injury, perhaps it should be considered that in your own words...

"It is also noteworthy that in the bad old days there were no driving tests and no speed limits on main roads. Anyone who had sufficient money could just buy a car, jump in and drive. If they lived long enough they might eventually master the art of driving."

...It was actually the carelessness of the driver that caused the crash and death? A car with a top speed of 20mph has ample breaking wether rear wheel only or not. Crumple zones and seat belts werent even a wet dream, because we had a false sense of security that these trusty steeds of steel would shrug off an impact, they even said the titanic was unsinkable.

Dont forget, we were on a crest of an engineering wave back then, vehicles were becoming more luxurious and a little quicker, no doubt some long dead driver of one of the first cars put his foot down a little to impress ye olde chicks.

Edited January 9, 2013 by Redefining Success

[Redefining Success]

I can remember reading something about the james dean car.

It was toured around america to teach kids not to drive fast etc, but it disappeared and has never been found since.

Not sure if Im right and surely some one will correct me if im wrong.