It’s that time of year when there’s a chill in the air.
Or, if you’re in Virginia, when there’s a chill in the air on Monday and it’s 80 degrees on Tuesday. Regardless of the weather, it’s October. Which means, Halloween is just around the corner. In the spirit of the holiday, we’ve put together some spooky stories for you. But these aren’t your typical scary stories. These are stories about haunted, and possibly deadly, cars. Just like most stories that fall under the supernatural umbrella, it’s hard to decide if these are factual or not. We’ll let you be the judge.
The Outlaw Lovers
Everyone knows the story of Bonnie and Clyde, two young outlaw lovers who spent the 1930’s raising hell. The couple were responsible for numerous robberies, burglaries, and murders. Their crime spree came to a halt on May 23 of 1934 after being ambushed by a posse, or what we would probably call a task force now. Led by former Texas Ranger Frank Hamer, the group waited for the outlaws on a rural road in Louisiana. The officers fired roughly 130 rounds into the couples car, even as it continued down the street, eventually crashing into a ditch. Bringing an end to Bonnie and Clyde.
Here’s where things get a little weird. In the aftermath of the outlaw’s demise, the car wasn’t destroyed or restored. The bullet ridden 1932 Ford Model 18 V8 is still around today. The stolen vehicle was actually returned to its original owner by a federal judge in the wake of the outlaw’s deaths. The owner ended up leasing the car to an anti-crime lecturer who toured fairgrounds with it along with the mothers of Bonnie and Clyde. After it’s years as a sideshow attraction, the bloodstained vehicle found its home at Whiskey Pete’s Casino in Primm, Nevada. Those who have visited the car and taken pictures with the vehicle have stated that you can see ‘creepy objects’ in the pictures. And those who have stood near the car claim to feel an uneasy, like you’re not alone. Is it the ghost of Bonnie and Clyde themselves? We may never know. . .
The Jumping Car of Cape Town
In true horror movie fashion, this Renault Megane seemed to have a mind of its own. In 2004, a family and their guests in Cape Town, South Africa had fallen asleep in their home. Late at night, the family were startled awake by the sound of their vehicle revving. Fearing their car was being stolen, they ran outside to see what was happening. The car was jumping around their yard, revving its engine, and to the family’s disbelief. . . had no driver.
The family called the police, who didn’t believe a single word of what was being explained to them. That is, until the vehicle revved alive again, and began moving backwards towards a tree. The police, now shocked along with the witnesses, couldn’t deny the event or explain how it had happened. The automotive manufacturer would later explain the incident as a result of a rusty starter cable that had short circuited. But this didn’t explain how the car was revving, let alone moving, without a driver pressing the gas pedal.
The Vanishing Ghost Car
This story will be shorter than the others because there isn’t much known about the traffic stop, or the driver. But there is a video that leaves us with more questions than answers.
Police in Garden City, Georgia attempted what seemed like a typical traffic stop. As the driver pulls over, and the police car follows suit, the car in question speeds off. The police follow the white car as it continues to weave drastically on the road. But as the white car takes its final left turn, we see the dashcam video show a fence. The cop car stops dead, as the white car continues to drive away, on the opposite side of the fully intact fence. The tail lights of the car disappear while the police stares at the fence in front of them. Did the bottom of the fence kick up, allowing the white car to pass unscathed? Or did something more paranormal occur?
James Dean’s Supernatural Spyder
James Dean was an iconic actor and racer who died tragically on September 30, 1955. The 24 year old was traveling to a car racing competition with his German mechanic friend Rolf Wutherich, when his car crashed, killing the actor and throwing Rolf from the Porsche. Was the accident an unfortunate mistake, or a premonition come true?
Dean had purchased his adored Porsche 550 Syder from Alec Guinness, a colleague and friend. Guinness had warned Dean “that if he got into that car, he’d be dead in exactly one week.”
But that wasn’t the end for the Porsche Spyder. The vehicle would find itself in the position of George Barris, a famous Hollywood car customizer. During its time being stored in a garage, the entire garage went up in flames. After the fire was put out, something unexplainable happened—the Porsche was intact and completely unscathed by the fire. The vehicle named ‘Little Bastard’ by Dean’s language coach, was something of a mystery. It was taken to numerous car shows and displayed until it vanished from it’s trailer one day while on its way back from a car show in 1960. The vehicle was never recovered, and it’s whereabouts are still unknown.
The Surrey Ghost Crash
In December of 2002, the Surrey Police began to receive a massive influx of calls regarding an accident on the A3. The A3 is an expansive motorway running from London all the way down to Portsmouth. The calls described a vehicle that had swerved off the road and crashed into the underbrush and down an embankment. The police arrived at the stretch of highway at Burpham near Guildford, but were perplexed immediately. There was no sign of a car accident. No car, no debris, nothing.
They continued to check the area, looking for any indication of the reported crash. Finally they found a maroon car deep into the brush, that appeared to have been there for a long stretch of time. The car was covered in spider webs and debris, and there they found the decomposed remains of the driver.
The driver was later identified as a 21 year old man who had been reported missing five months earlier. Police had been looking for the missing man since July, after he didn’t return home from an outing with friends in Hounslow. Did the motorists who called the police in December actually see the replay of an accident that had taken place five months earlier?
Hopefully these stories put you in the Halloween spirit! While we don't have any haunted car stories personally, we have a few horror stories—but not because of ghosts! Keep up to date on all your car maintenance and avoid having scares of your own!