The World Held Its Breath for Evel Knievel’s 75 Death-Defying Stunts — the Price Was 433 Broken Bones
He was the ultimate daredevil, launching himself through the air on motorcycles (and, once, a rocket), shattering records — and 433 bones, enough to earn him a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Robert “Evel” Knievel became a global icon in the 1960s and 1970s, completing more than 75 ramp-to-ramp jumps during a career that made him one of the most famous performers on the planet.
Now, more than five decades after his heyday, his legacy is roaring back to life at the 20,000-square-foot Evel Knievel Experience in Las Vegas, where fans can get up close to the motorcycles, costumes, helmets, merchandise and memorabilia that made him a household name.
Robert “Evel” Knievel was the ultimate daredevil, launching himself through the air on motorcycles (and, once, a rocket), shattering records — and 433 bones, enough to earn him a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.AP
“He was a pioneer, no doubt, and the impact he had can’t be understated,” Mike Patterson, the museum’s co-founder and CEO, told The Post.
Kelly Knievel, Evel’s eldest son and a partner in the project, believes that was exactly what his father wanted.
“My father always thought he should have a museum because he knew exactly what he accomplished and how it inspired so many people,” he said of his dad, who passed away in 2007 at age 69, from complications related to diabetes and pulmonary fibrosis. “He used to tell me, ‘Kelly, I’m going to be worth more dead than alive — and if you can’t make any money off it, you don’t deserve any.’”
These are some of the iconic items now on display.
The helmet that saved his life
The helmet worn during Knievel’s 1967 attempted jump over the Caesars Palace fountain in Las Vegas shows the scars of his crash.The Evel Knievel Experience
On New Year’s Eve, 1967, Evel Knievel attempted the death-defying stunt that turned him into a global superstar: a leap over the iconic fountains outside Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
It ended in disaster.
Charging up the ramp, his Triumph Bonneville T120 suddenly lost power. He slammed into the landing ramp 140 feet away before being catapulted across the tarmac and into the parking lot of the nearby Dunes Hotel.
The toll on Knievel’s body was horrific, with a crushed pelvis and femur, a shattered hip, a broken wrist, two fractured ankles and a severe concussion.
After his bike lost power on the ascent, Knievel was catapulted across the tarmac and into a nearby parking lot.Bettmann Archive
The toll on Knievel, seen here before the crash, was horrific, with a crushed pelvis and femur, a shattered hip, a broken wrist, two fractured ankles and a severe concussion.Bettmann Archive
“If it wasn’t for this helmet, there’s a very good chance Evel Knievel would have died,” Patterson said. “And remember, this is a helmet from 1967. It has none of the safety technology riders take for granted today. It’s basically a bucket with a bit of padding inside. When you look at what happened to him, it’s incredible he survived.”
The bike even Knievel couldn’t tame
This American Eagle 750cc carried Knievel through nine major jumps between 1969 and 1970 before it nearly ended his career.
Knievel was riding an American Eagle when he crashed at the Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania in August 1970.Evel Knievel /Instagram
He broke a shoulder and a hand and cracked several vertebrae in the crash.Evel Knievel /Instagram
Its final outing came at Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania in August 1970, when he crashed heavily, breaking his shoulder and hand and cracking several vertebrae. He never jumped the bike again, switching to Harley-Davidsons instead.
Today, the American Eagle is one of the standout exhibits at the museum — but, according to Patterson, it’s easy to see why Knievel gave up on it.
The American Eagle 750cc is “so heavy I can’t even push it around the museum,” said museum co-founder Mike Patterson.The Evel Knievel Experience
“It’s an amazing piece of history, but it’s a very, very heavy motorcycle and a terrible one for jumping,” he said.
“It’s so heavy I can’t even push it around the museum. So you can imagine what it was like trying to launch it through the air.”
The rocket that could have killed him
By 1974, jumping motorcycles wasn’t enough for Evel Knievel.
Determined to pull off the greatest stunt of his career, he set out to soar across Idaho’s 1,600-foot-wide Snake River Canyon in a 300 mph steam-powered rocket he helped design: the Skycycle X-2.
This 300 mph steam-powered rocket, the Skycycle X-2, was intended to take Knievel across the Snake River Canyon in Idaho.The Evel Knievel Experience
The Evel Knievel Museum houses not only the Skycycle used in the attempt, but also the top-secret prototype that crashed during testing just a month earlier.
“The test was kept under wraps because Evel believed that if it succeeded, it would take some of the drama away from the real jump,” Patterson said. “But it failed — and that’s when people [around him] started thinking he might not survive.”
Their fears were well founded.
Seconds into the public flight, the parachute deployed far too early, yanking the rocket off course and sending it drifting helplessly into the canyon below. Knievel narrowly avoided plunging into the Snake River as the crippled craft crashed down the canyon wall.
Knievel helped design the Sky Cycle.ASSOCIATED PRESS
The parachute deployed far too early, yanking the rocket off course and sending it drifting helplessly into the canyon below.Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
Against all odds, he escaped with little more than a broken nose, cuts and bruises.
“He always counted it as a success,” Patterson said. “He pushed the button, survived, and lived to tell the story.”
The Wembley crash that couldn’t stop him
By 1975, Evel Knievel was a global phenomenon.
Riding a Harley-Davidson XR-750, he arrived at London’s Wembley Stadium determined to clear 13 London single-deck buses in front of 80,000 fans and with millions more watching on television around the world.
Knievel attempted to jump 13 buses at London’s Wembley Stadium in 1975.Getty Images
He came agonizingly close.Knievel cleared almost every bus before clipping the last one on landing and crashing spectacularly. The impact left him with a fractured pelvis, a broken hand and a concussion.
Even then, he refused to leave on a stretcher.
“I came in walking, and I’ll go out walking,” he told the stunned crowd before dramatically announcing his retirement.
He clipped the last bus, crashing spectacularly.Getty Images
The impact left him with a fractured pelvis, a broken hand and a concussionGetty Images
It didn’t last.
Just five months later, Knievel was back, successfully jumping 14 Greyhound buses in Cincinnati despite pleas from his family to quit.
The Harley-Davidson XR-750 Knievel used at Wembley.The Evel Knievel Experience
“Whenever I asked him to stop, he’d just say, ‘Kids don’t tell Evel Knievel when or when not to jump,’” Kelly recalled.
The legendary leathers
Knievel understood the power of a personal brand long before that became commonplace.
His dazzling jumpsuits, flowing capes, painted helmets and custom bike graphics became almost as recognizable as the stunts themselves, with a patriotic style that turned a daredevil into an American icon.
Knievel understood the power of his personal brand: ”You see the red, white and blue and the stars and stripes, and you immediately know it’s Evel Knievel,” Patterson said.Getty Images
Some costumes in the display show marks from various crashes.The Evel Knievel Experience
Over the years, Knievel worked with a number of designers to create his look. ”You see the red, white and blue and the stars and stripes, and you immediately know it’s Evel Knievel,” Patterson said.
The museum houses several of his iconic outfits — and, Patterson added, “Some of them have all the crash marks on them, too.”
The Big Red Machine That Took Evel Across America
Behind every Evel Knievel stunt was a huge operation, and nothing captured the scale of his traveling circus quite like his legendary “Big Red” Mack truck and trailer.
It took a team of 90 craftsmen, including Patterson, to painstakingly restore the rig to its original glory.
“For years, he drove all his equipment from show to show across the United States,” Kelly Knievel said of his father. Here, the “Big Red” big rig used to haul his apparatus.The Evel Knievel Experience
“We’re all really proud of the job we did,” Patterson says. “It really gives you an idea of the scale of Evel Knievel’s touring presence and what it took to put those shows on.”
For Kelly, the truck represents something more personal: the relentless work ethic behind a legend.
Kelly Knievel, the daredevil’s son, is a partner in the new Evel Knievel Experience in Las Vegas.The FA via Getty Images
“For years, he drove all his equipment from show to show across the United States, setting up ramps, making appearances, attending meetings and negotiating deals — all without managers or assistants other than my mother,” Kelly said of his father. “His determination to make something of himself, and his sheer lust for life, was inspirational.”
The Evel Knievel Experience: An Interactive Museum of America’s Original Daredevil is now open in Downtown Las Vegas’ Arts District. Visit www.ekexperience.com for details.