‘Tis the season to be spooky, and while you’re out trick or treating this Halloween, don’t dare forget that cars can be creepy too. We’re already looked some of the spookiest cars ever so come closer while we recount tales of the most haunted cars.
Franz Ferdinand’s Gräf & Stift ‘Death Limo’
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand triggered the First World War, but the shooting of the heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne through the neck was not the only violent death to occur in his Gräf & Stift Double Phaeton luxury limousine.
Over the years, the car was owned by 15 different people and was involved in six accidents and 13 deaths. An Austrian general named Potiorek also went insane while riding in the car through Vienna.
It remained on the road until 1926, when it was donated to the War History Museum of Vienna. It hasn’t been blamed for any deaths since.
James Dean’s 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder – aka ‘Little Bastard’
There’s nothing strange about celebrities and movie stars dying in car crashes. However, the car at the centre of James Dean’s passing is quite remarkable.
The Rebel Without A Cause star loved racing, and tragically lost his life aged 24 during a horrific car accident on his way to a race in Salinas, CA, when he lost control of his Porsche 550 Spyder and flipped into a gully.
You’d think that’s where the tale ends, but parts from the car were sold to other drivers, with the engine and drivetrain going to two doctors, who also had a passion for racing. During a race, both doctors were involved in grizzly crashes and one was killed.
What was left of Dean’s 550 Spyder was donated to the California Highway Patrol to be displayed as a warning to careless drivers.
However, the first place it was exhibited – a garage – promptly burned down with the so-called ‘Little Bastard’ standing unscathed in the debris.
When being transported to a high school, the car broke free from truck hauling it and caused another fatal accident. Whilst on display at a different school, it fell and broke a student’s hip, and whilst being moved again, the car fell off its trailer three times, crushing a truck driver.
Enough was enough, but on its way to the crusher, the car vanished mysteriously and hasn’t been seen since.
The jumping car of Cape Town
Never trust a car that moves on its own. It’s due to things like the jumping car of Cape Town that some people are still sceptical of driverless cars
A family in Cape Town woke up to a loud crash in the middle of the night and hurried down to investigate the commotion. Once outside, they saw a Renault Megane jerkily jumping around the yard, smashing through a sturdy fence at one point.
Initially, they thought maybe someone had tried to steal the car but no driver could be found, the car’s doors were locked and its handbrake was on.
Police officers arrived on the scene the next day and were understandably sceptical. That was until the car burst into life again began jumping backwards until it plonked into a tree.
Investigations blamed a rusty starter cable, but that doesn’t explain the car’s roaring sound during its jumping.
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