James Dean had a wide range of interests besides acting, and he was naturally ambitious. “I think my life will be devoted to art and dramatics,” he wrote in a letter to his school principal while he was still a teenager (via jamesdean.com). “And there are so many different fields of art it would be hard to foul-up, and if I did, there are so many different things to do — farm, sports, science, geology, coaching, teaching music. I got it, and I know if I better myself that there will be no match. A fellow must have confidence. … As one strives to make a goal in a game, there should be a goal in this crazy world for all of us. I hope I know where mine is, anyway. I’m after it.” Dean added that he already owned a motorcycle, and his hobby was riding and repairing it. By his early 20s, he had progressed to racing cars and had done so professionally multiple times before his tragic accident.
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Dean was driving his new Porche 550 Spyder — which he intended to enter into the Salinas Road Races — with his mechanic Rolf Wütherich in the passenger seat. Wütherich was giving the actor advice on how to handle the powerful sports vehicle while other members of their entourage followed some distance behind. The pair stopped at Tip’s Coffee Shop in Castaic Junction, where Dean ordered the apple pie and glass of milk from the dazzled serving staff, who instantly recognized the up-and-coming young actor.
