Grab your shovel, we’re going treasure hunting! There’s no sunken ships or buried chests where we’re going, and don’t even think about looking for a big red X on any map to guide this adventure. Oh, no, our mission is all about finding automotive gold. You’ve heard the tales about automotive archeologists finding the industry equivalent of Tut’s tomb, right? Well, it could still happen to you. The following five automotive icons have no final record of meeting the wrecker, which means these missing cars may still be out there, waiting to be found and cherished once again.
1956 Oldsmobile Golden Rocket
From 1949 through 1961, General Motors’ Motorama was the most spectacular automotive event in America. Held annually alongside the New York International Auto Show, Motorama blended theater, marketing, and engineering into a traveling showcase of GM’s future. Concept cars, films, and scale models revealed bold ideas meant to excite the public, and few did so more dramatically than the 1956 Oldsmobile Golden Rocket.
True to its name, the Golden Rocket looked like it belonged on a launchpad. Powered by an Oldsmobile Rocket V8 producing 275 horsepower, it embodied mid-century America’s fascination with speed, space, and progress. Like most GM concepts of the era, it was expected to be destroyed after its tour due to liability concerns. However, period photographs show the car repainted blue and photographed as late as the 1960s. Persistent rumors place it somewhere in New Jersey, though no documentation confirms its fate. Without a verified destruction record, the Golden Rocket remains officially unaccounted for.
James Dean’s Porsche 550 Spyder
Few missing cars are as famous—or as haunted—as James Dean’s Porsche 550 Spyder. Dean purchased the lightweight racer shortly after wrapping Giant, having been prohibited from racing during filming. Rather than trailer the car to the 1955 Salinas Road Races, he chose to drive it, reasoning that the engine needed to be broken in.
Dean was killed en route after colliding with a 1950 Ford. In the aftermath, the wreckage passed through several hands before being acquired by customizer George Barris. Soon, stories began circulating that the car was cursed: drivers injured by its parts, a fatal accident involving a transporter, and even a mysterious garage fire. Barris dismissed the claims and rebuilt the Spyder into a crash-state display for a traveling safety exhibit titled James Dean’s Last Sports Car.
After a 1960 showing in Florida, the Porsche was sealed inside a railcar and shipped back to Los Angeles. When Barris opened the car upon arrival, the Porsche was gone. It has never resurfaced. Today, the Volo Auto Museum has offered up to $1 million for information leading to its recovery.
1910 Buick Bug
Years before Chevrolet appeared on any car, Louis Chevrolet and his brothers became well known auto racers. Louis’ skills earned him a coveted spot on the Buick racing team, headquartered in Flint, Michigan. Along with his teammate Bob Burman, he helped design and test a new racer from Buick for the 1910 season. The result was the Buick Special 60, dubbed “The Bug.” Only two examples ever left the factory, one for Burman and one for Louis Chevrolet.
After the Buick team won half of the auto races it entered in America in 1909, GM founder Billy Durant presented the racers with $10,000 bonuses. This fueled Burman and Chevrolet’s excitement for the track, which may have driven their desire to build an even better racer. The two became known for racing each other up and down Saginaw Street in Flint, with one notable incident involving Chevrolet rolling his car and landing upright. Shocked witnesses said once on all fours, he gunned the car and disappeared down a side street. It is unknown if Louis wrecked the Bug that day, but it isn’t a farfetched hypothesis, given the timing. That crash could have caused enough damage to send it to the junkyard, as Burman’s racer survives today. Chevrolet’s Bug? It seems to have been squashed.
1948 Tucker #1042
Preston Tucker’s story is one of the most well-known tales in the automotive industry. While he never had the chance to compete with the Big Three, he did manage to get 50 cars (51 including the prototype) out of his factory before going bankrupt. Financial issues and an SEC fraud case would ultimately shut his business down, despite later being found innocent during the SEC trial. Still, his situation resulted in most of his assets, including many of the 48s, being auctioned off from his Chicago production facility.
At least eight Tucker bodies and chassis not completed in the factory also went under the hammer. Many of those parts assisted in the restoration of other vehicles. One unfinished car ended up as a convertible, though it is up for debate if it was a factory design or not. In reality, there is quite a bit of mystery surrounding the Tuckers, so what makes chassis 1042 special? It’s the only fully-built Tucker to leave the assembly line with unknown whereabouts today.
The story goes that a Memphis cop drug the car home from the banks of the Mississippi in about 1960 with the condition of the Tucker being nothing short of terrible. Not long after he parked it at his rental home, he suffered injuries in a motorcycle accident. By the time he got home from the hospital, the car vanished. Some believe his landlord towed the car to scrap yard, but nobody can say for certain. This means the only missing factory built Tucker 48 could still be out there.
Type 57 SC Atlantic Coupe
In 1934 Bugatti began production of the Type 57, a chassis designed and engineered by Jean Bugatti, son of company founder Ettore. This versatile framework became a popular base for everything from luxury vehicles to race cars. While some 800 Type 57s would leave the factory by 1940, Jean placed a special focus on building the most high-end road cars. In doing so, he created the Aerolith concept, which would yield four coach built Type 57 SCs, now known as Atlantic Coupes. Of the four that left the factory, one remains unaccounted for today.
The missing one, chassis 57453 and the second to leave the factory, happens to have been Jean’s personal car. He referred to it as “La Voiture Noire” (the black car), and used it regularly for publicity and routine driving. It is unknown if Jean sold the car before his untimely death in 1939 or if went into storage in a safer region of France as the Germans invaded. Alas, this is among the greatest automotive mysteries to date. Even though the condition of the car is likely quite dire, if it exists at all, some believe it could bring more than $100 million at auction.
The Ultimate Barn Finds?
The likelihood of finding any of these missing cars seems astronomically small. Truth is, since the moment they disappeared, people have been searching for them. That doesn’t mean they’re not out there, as none of these vehicles have a proven demise. Now, where’s that shovel at?
