If you’ve ever gone down a rabbit hole of Old Hollywood tragedies, you’ve definitely seen the photos. It’s 1967. A mangled Buick Electra 225 is crumpled under the back of a trailer. Most people today know about the accident because of the "Mansfield Bar"—that steel underride guard on the back of semi-trucks. But there is a weird, lingering obsession with the jayne mansfield car movie and whether that actual car still exists.
Honestly, the "movie" most people are looking for isn't a biopic. It is a 2012 drama directed by Billy Bob Thornton.
The film, titled Jayne Mansfield's Car, isn't really about Jayne herself. It’s set in 1969 Alabama. It follows a family of war veterans (played by Robert Duvall, Kevin Bacon, and Thornton) who are basically falling apart under the weight of their own trauma. The "car" in the title refers to a traveling sideshow attraction. Back in the sixties and seventies, it was surprisingly common for people to pay fifty cents to gawk at "death cars" from famous accidents.
In the film, the patriarch, Jim Caldwell, takes a visiting Englishman to see the wreckage. It’s a grisly, Southern Gothic moment that perfectly captures how obsessed the public was with the actress's violent end.
The Real Story Behind the Buick Electra
Forget the Hollywood scripts for a second. The actual crash happened at 2:25 a.m. on June 29, 1967. Jayne was traveling from Biloxi to New Orleans for a morning TV interview. She was in the front seat with her lawyer, Sam Brody, and their driver, Ronnie Harrison.
In the back? Her three children: Mickey Jr., Zoltan, and a three-year-old Mariska Hargitay.
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A mosquito-fogging truck had pumped out a thick cloud of insecticide on Highway 90. Visibility dropped to zero. The Buick slammed into the back of a tractor-trailer that had slowed down in the fog. The top of the car was literally peeled off. The three adults died instantly. The kids in the back survived with minor injuries, which is nothing short of a miracle.
Why the "Decapitation" Rumor Won't Die
If you talk to anyone about the jayne mansfield car movie or her death, they’ll almost certainly mention she was beheaded. It’s one of those urban legends that felt true because the car was so flat.
But it’s not true.
The rumor started because a blonde wig was found in the wreckage. Police and bystanders saw the blonde hair on the dashboard and jumped to a horrific conclusion. Her death certificate actually lists the cause of death as a "crushed skull." Her undertaker, Jim Roberts, eventually went on the record to say her head was intact, though the trauma was severe.
Where is the Death Car Today?
This is where things get truly bizarre. Most cars from fatal celebrity accidents are crushed or scrapped. Not this one.
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For decades, the Buick Electra was a macabre trophy. It spent years in a museum in Florida. Later, it was bought by a private collector named Scott Michaels, who runs "Dearly Departed Tours" in Hollywood. He actually owns a piece of the wreckage.
When Billy Bob Thornton made his jayne mansfield car movie, he was tapping into this very real, very American obsession with the physical remnants of tragedy. The car in his movie is a replica, but it symbolizes the way Mansfield became a commodity even after she was gone.
Why Jayne Mansfield's Car Matters in 2026
Looking back at the 2012 film now, it feels less like a movie about an actress and more like a study of how we process grief. The characters in the film are obsessed with the wreckage because they don't know how to talk about their own "internal wrecks" from World War I and II.
It’s a heavy movie. It’s slow. Some critics at the time hated it because they thought it was too "theatrical" or "talky," but Robert Duvall gives a powerhouse performance as a man fascinated by the grotesque.
If you are looking for a literal biopic, you might want to check out the 1980 TV movie The Jayne Mansfield Story starring Loni Anderson and a very young Arnold Schwarzenegger. It’s campy. It’s pure eighties. But it actually tries to tell her life story rather than just using her death as a metaphor.
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The Safety Legacy (The Mansfield Bar)
You can't talk about the jayne mansfield car movie or the crash without mentioning the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Before 1967, semi-trailers were basically "decapitation machines" for anyone who rear-ended them. The car would just slide right under the trailer bed. Because Jayne was such a massive star, her death forced the government to act. They mandated "underride guards."
Drivers call them "Mansfield Bars."
It’s a weird legacy. A woman who spent her life trying to be the most glamorous person in the room is now immortalized by a piece of industrial steel on the back of a Freightliner.
Actionable Next Steps for Film Buffs and Historians
If you’re interested in the intersection of celebrity culture and true crime, here is how you can dig deeper into the world of the jayne mansfield car movie and the history behind it:
- Watch the Billy Bob Thornton Film: Jayne Mansfield's Car (2012) is available on several streaming platforms like Vudu or Amazon. Watch it for the performances, not for a history lesson on Jayne.
- Track Down the Documentary: Check out Mansfield 66/67. It’s a stylized documentary that looks at the rumors surrounding her final years, including her alleged connection to the Church of Satan.
- Visit the Crash Site: If you're ever near Slidell, Louisiana, there is a small memorial marker on Highway 90. It’s a quiet, marshy spot that looks remarkably similar to how it did in 1967.
- Study the "Mansfield Bar": Next time you’re on the highway, look at the back of a truck. That horizontal bar is the direct result of the accident that ended a Hollywood era.
The story of the jayne mansfield car movie is ultimately a story about how we can't look away from a crash. Whether it's on a movie screen or a dark Louisiana highway, the tragedy of Jayne Mansfield remains one of the most enduring "ghost stories" of the 20th century.