Mike Wolfejust picked his way intoEvel Knievel’s wild world, and nearly needed a helmet himself. What started as a simple billboard flip on the latest episode ofAmerican Pickers, turned into a full-throttle detour through Knievel’s daredevil legacy, complete with high-speed stunts, flaming crashes, and a museum packed with enough testosterone to fuel a Harley.As a motorcycle junkie, Wolfe was clearly in hog heaven—revving up one of themost adrenaline-soaked episodes yet.
What Really Went Into Evel Knievel’s Snake River Canyon Jump?
When Wolfe stepped into the Evel Knievel Museum, founded byhistory enthusiastsMike PattersonandLathan McKay, he was in for quite the ride. The co-founders took the picker through their massive collection that featured piecespainstakingly acquired and restored over 12 years.From Knievel’s original leathers and helmets to memorabilia, magazine covers, and his iconic tour bus, known as Big Red, this space painted a picture of the daredevil’s entire life and career. However,what truly surprised Wolfe was a secret storythat even most die-hard fans ofthe stunt performermight not know.
Patterson and McKay took Wolfe inside a room that housed what appeared to be the Skycycle Knievel used for his infamousSnake River Canyon Jump in September 1974.However, Patterson revealed that the model was actually another version of the Skycycle that wasused for an unmanned testbefore Knievel actually launched himself off the canyon. Looking at the state of the vehicle, the test clearly didn’t go as planned.
Despite the setback, Knievel refused to back down andwent ahead with the stuntas planned. However, that wasn’t the end of his problems. According to Patterson, the daredevil accidentally wore the wrong suit on the day of the stunt. The problem with this suit was that itwouldn’t let him detach from his seatin case the Skycycle crashed into the water. This would have resulted in instant death for the performer, who was lucky enough to miss the river by just ten feet.
The Stunt That Almost Killed Evel Knievel
The test Skycycle, much like the one used for the actual jump, was made fromaircraft-grade partsand designed to offer the stuntman a deadly level of power. That was exactly what Knievel wanted, though. The museum founders told Wolfe that every bike the daredevil owned had a set of wings fitted with a propulsion kit. According to McKay, “It was a death trap,” that couldkill the average man in 5 seconds.
Knievel was always willing to take these risks, though. Some might call him reckless, but he didn’t do it all just for the thrill. Knievel’s real goal was tomaintain the myth he had builtaround himself, because he knew how desperatelyAmerica needed a heroto look up to back in the day. Wolfe, who had grown up watching Knievel on screen and trying to recreate his stunts, saw this as afull-circle moment in his journey.What resonated the most with him, though, was meeting collectors like Patterson and McKay, who were so passionate about keeping Knievel’s legacy alive. Their goal was for the stunt performer’s stories to inspire others, just like they had inspired them.
Why Mike Wolfe Let Go of the Profit on a Rare Evel Knievel Billboard on ‘American Pickers’
What’s even more interesting is that the episode kicked off with Wolfe visiting the museum to sell off an extremely rare Knievel billboard he had managed to get his hands on. This particular billboard had beensaved from being burned downlike many others during the riots that broke out after the stunt performer’s failed Snake River Canyon Jump. A local namedBillhad managed to rescue it just in time, andWolfe ended up buying it for around $22,000. When he first reached out to Patterson and McKay, the picker had hoped to turn a profit on the rare piece. However, after going through the museum and hearing the stories they had collected, Wolfe realized that he didn’t care about the profit anymore.
Seeing the lengths these collectors had been through topreserve Knievel’s gear and the spiritbehind it, Wolfe didn’t want to make things harder for them. In the end, he decided to let the billboard go for what he paid for it without any markup. To the picker, Patterson and McKay were the rightful owners of the billboard solely because of their dedication to honoring a man whoinspired America to dream of stars.
