The Murderous, Motorized Golden Eagle

Carolyn McBride
3 min readDec 18, 2021

North America’s most blood-thirsty car

The demonic car known as Golden Eagle, a 1964 Dodge
Photo from author’s collection

While doing research for my ‘Behind The Crime Scene Tape’ blog, I’ve come across stories about murderers, abusers, poisoners and psychopaths. But for all the evil that strolls through this world, I would never have guessed that an antique car could be called evil.

Yes, I have heard of the Stephen King classic, ‘Christine’. It seems old Steve based Christine on a real murderous car. A 1964 Dodge 330 Limited Edition, nicknamed ‘Golden Eagle’.

Fans of Stephen King will know he centers his tales in Maine. He and Golden Eagle both call that picturesque state home. The author writes horror, while the car’s legend is horrifying.

Not much is known about the car before it was sold to the Old Orchard Beach police force. Three separate officers drove it, and all three of them murdered their families before taking their own lives. In a town of fewer than 8000 people, what are the odds of so many murder/suicides? Needless to say, the force got rid of the car, selling it to an elderly man, who apparently gave it to its current owner, Wendy Allen.

Members of the local church vehemently disagreed with keeping the so-called “demon car” in their town and vandalised it, in some kind of warped exorcism.

It had the opposite effect.

According to Golden Eagle’s owner, the vandals were all killed quite violently. Some were decapitated in automobile accidents, and a few others were struck by lightning, with one more being claimed in yet another murder-suicide. You have to feel bad for those who were decapitated. We can only hope it was quick, unlike this poor fellow…

The car is reportedly to blame for the deaths of two teens hit by another car before being flung onto the hood of Golden Eagle, where they died.

In 2007, another teen was dared to merely touch the car, which he did, being full of bravado and bluster. Weeks later, he murdered his family and set their home ablaze. No one is entirely sure why.

In 2010, another group of church-goers stole the car, had it chopped up and taken apart and sent the pieces to a bunch of different junkyards. Ms. Allen is a self-proclaimed car collector, and with help from supporters, raised the necessary funds to find many of her beloved car’s pieces. Others could not be found and had to be replaced completely. The car was restored to the point that the owner was able to use it as her daily driver. Ms. Allen claims the vandals and church-folk brought the curse on themselves, targeting her because of her belief in the occult. Some even went so far as to accuse her of witchcraft, using the car as her tool for casting death spells. All told though, the car is apparently responsible for anywhere from 14–32 deaths, depending on who you listen to.

Interestingly enough, Ms. Allen still lives in Old Orchard Beach. She claims the car has never hurt any of her family, despite its tendency to fling open the doors while driving down the highway. Good thing for seat belts, right? Apparently, the car has figured out how to release those, too. But these days, the car remains hidden away for its own safety. Ms. Allen has cashed in on her infamy, claiming to be the founder of The Church of the Holy Rhinestone.

Is her car a killer, or did she concoct the story for 15 minutes of fame? I can’t say one way or the other, but if Golden Eagle is cursed, it would be the most murderous motorized vehicle in North America.

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Carolyn McBride

I’m a self-sufficiency enthusiast, an author of novels & short stories, a reader, a gardener, lover of good chocolate, coffee & life in the woods.