Does Evel Knievel really need any introduction? The motorcycle stunt performer was perhaps even more famous for his spectacular crashes and long list of broken bones (433 fractures across his career, a world record that still stands) than he was for any of his successful jumps. Knievel was a highly telegenic and colorful character, practically tailor-made for television.
Evel made his first televised jump on March 25, 1967 on ABC’s Wide World Of Sports, a successful leap over 15 cars aboard a Triumph Bonneville T120. Reportedly, ABC did not air the jump live, for fear Evel’s first television appearance would also be his last moments alive. Eight months later, ABC put Evel on the air again for an even more spectacular stunt, a flight over the fountains at the Caesar’s Palace casino in Las Vegas. Evel covered 99 percent of the distance with ease, but alas, it’s that last one percent that gets ya. Evel came up just slightly short, his Bonneville’s rear wheel landing on the flat edge of the landing ramp instead of the slope. The jolt bucked Evel’s hands and feet off the handlebars and pegs, sending him over the bars to ragdoll across the pavement. Evel went into the hospital with broken ribs, a broken hip, and a crushed pelvis. Twenty-nine days later, he left the hospital as a star.
Evel went right back to jumping, with bone-breaking wrecks between every five or six safe landings (you can see a list of all his jumps here), each success growing his fame by a little and each failure growing it by a lot. Evel was a hero to kids in particular, who emulated “The King of the Stuntmen” by jumping their bicycles off home-made ramps, but had little in the way of motorcycle toys for simulated Evel Knieveling.
Ideal Toys, best known at the time for games such as Mousetrap and Battling Tops, saw the potential for a hit toy, and licensed Evel’s likeness in time for toys to hit stores in 1972. Not that his likeness mattered to kids much, I suspect; I think Ideal could have just molded Evel’s head as a solid helmet and kids wouldn’t have cared, as long there was a body in an Evel Knievel outfit on a motorcycle. Nonetheless, Ideal did a creditable job modeling Evel in vinyl, and put his plastic noggin atop a rubbery body molded over a wire armature to enable poseability while offering the extreme durability that would surely be required.
For Evel’s motorcycle, the ability to actually perform jumps and survive wrecks was essential. Ideal ingeniously engineered a self-balancing, powered toy motorcycle equipped with a metal flywheel that stored energy to power the bike while also acting like a gyro to help it stay on two wheels. A high-ratio gear reduction inside the bike allowed kid-power to spin the flywheel up to speed using a hand-cranked “energizer.” The bike engaged the energizer via a recessed gear, and slots held the bike in the correct position for proper gear mesh. A took a good ten or twenty crank-turns to get Evel up to max power, and when you stopped the crank, Evel shot out of the energizer with impressive speed.
And he really could jump! Maybe you didn’t land your jumps as frequently or smoothly as the kids in the commercials, but seeing lil’ Evel eat it was just as much fun as a successful touchdown. The rugged motorcycle would get quickly and thoroughly scraped up, but thanks to flexible plastics and the spring-loaded fork that pivoted backward if the bike smacked into anything, it was hard to actually break it.
Ideal quickly expanded the Evel Knievel line with all sorts of vehicles for Evel to crash and smash, including the “Formula 1 Dragster” pictured above, which was modeled after a full-size wheelie car that Evel had built to expand his brand and stunt repertoire. There was also a funny car (below) a “rocket” bike with spark-shooting exhaust, and, bizarrely, a chopper motorcycle that wouldn’t have looked out of place in Easy Rider. I cannot tell you what I would give to see the real Evel Knievel jump ten school buses on a raked-out chopper.
As seen above, there was also the “Scramble Van,” which expanded the play value beyond Evel shattering his skeleton. To cash in on Evel’s now-notorious jump across the Snake River canyon via a steam-powered rocket, Ideal produced the Canyon Sky Cycle. The lead-up to this jump put Knievel mania into high gear, and it appeared the toy line had legs (bendy, rubbery legs) to sustain solid sales for years to come.
Alas, it was not meant to be, and Ideal’s long run with Evel Knievel – and Evel’s own popularity – went to pieces in 1977. Former Knievel promotor Shelly Saltman authored “Evel Knievel On Tour,” an unauthorized biography of Knievel that painted him as a hard drinker and worse – very much not the type of guy kids should look up to. Not great, but Evel supercharged the bad press by attacking Saltman with an aluminum baseball bat, sending him to the hospital. With that, support from Ideal and the other brands Knievel had deals with disappeared. Evel Knievel toys lingered on shelves for a while, but production of new toys ended. However, the concept would live on as other stunt motorcycle toys minus the Knievel connection. Today, the original Evel Knievel bike, figure, and energizer set is back, thanks to California Creations.
Did you have any Evel Knievel toys? Or maybe you have the modern version right now! I’ll see you in the comments.
Top graphic images: Ideal; Marvel Comics; California Creations
I remember this. It was my era as a kid. Everyone in the neighborhood talked about jumping the Grand Canyon. Kids wanted dirt bikes. I was too nerdy for that but oh well.
I did have the motorcycle toy. Garage sale purchase.
I had the motorcycle, except the crank enclosure was white instead of red IIRC. I remember the jumpsuit on Evel was really rough thin nylon or something. The motorcycle had rubber tires and could build up a lot of torque, it would leave the crank spinning the back tire in the dirt. It was a blast on my gravel driveway with occasional potholes and mud puddles.
I totally had that motorcycle toy. I remember watching everything I could of his jumps as a little kid.
I also did all kinds of stupid dangerous stuff on my 76 Huffy Thunder Star bike, without a helmet.
No mention of his Movie?
“Viva Knievel!” was a star-studded film, that made Evel look like a saint, and could do no wrong. Then 3 months after the premere he beats Saltman near to death.
If you want to see this strange film of its times, I recommend watching the Rifftrax version for maximum enjoyment.
There’s also a few fun old cars to spot in the movie, like Knievel’s own Stutz Blackhawk, and the custom Cadillac Funeral Flower Car, that he converted to haul bikes with.
Preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m08SRc5ABL0
Watch it free on Tubi: https://tubitv.com/movies/100007812/rifftrax-viva-knievel
I was the prime demographic for those toys but never had any, though I had friends who did.
Even as a pre-adolescent, I was vaguely aware that Evel Knievel was a thug who had lucked into celebrity. Not sure if that’s why my parents wouldn’t buy me that stuff—might be.
I may or may not have had some hand-me-down Evil Knieval toys. I could be blending memories, but that winding station action just looks so familiar. So does the rocket car.
Ah, I remember this. My brother and I were less than five years apart, but he had a collection of GI Joes while I reached toy-buying age during the post-Vietnam reaction to military-themed toys, so there was Big Jim with his Jeep in the woods working off what we now know was disillusionment and PTSD after coming home from the war and Evel Knievel doing all sorts of active, dangerous and traditionally male things without fortifying hamlets and terrorizing the villagers therein.
I had the wind up motorcyle, and while I can confirm that it could indeed jump the ‘grand canyon’ between my bed and my brother’s, he pretty much never stuck the landing, so 100% accurate to real life
Yeah, I remember Evel Knievel.
All the other neighborhood boys with bikes tried to do jumps like him.
I just sat back and watched – making money selling cups of ice-cold Tang and tickets to the show…
I had this motorcycle toy as a child. Fun memory.
Ah the memories. Evel did not make it over the irrigation canal by my house, despite our attempts to improve the odds with a ramp of our own creation. Good times.
Oh yeah, the Evel Kenievel bike! I loved mine. Did one big jump too many and the bike didn’t make it.
My bike? Changed to a bigger rear tire, other stupid kid stuff I can’t remember and we built ramps. Our house’s backyard was perfect, a sidewalk going downhill to our place, a gravel alley and then a little bump into the yard itself. We engineered to our best kid abilities the ramps. Didn’t break any bones but I did smash the bike a bit.
I got really big air once, enough that my mom screamed and the neighborhood kids said it was cool or whatever word we used back then.
As a child of the 70s and living in Cincinnati when he jumped the busses at King’s Island, yes I had the regular motorcycle. I forget how many toy trucks he jumped.
And can I just say that chicks dig scars, bones heal, and America has the best daredevil to doctor ratio of anywhere? (Forget the end of the quote)
“ bones heal, chicks dig scars, and fame lasts forever. Now, nurse, it’s time for my sponge bath!”
That’s from the Simpsons, “Bones heal, chicks dig scars, and the United States of America has the best doctor to daredevil ratio in the world” As told to Bart when he visits his idol obviously based on EK
Oh, hey, g’mornin’. *yawn* Ooh, neat! A Toy Car Thur-
*looks at date*
Oh. It’s Carb Day.
Anyway, I was way too late for Evel (I was more Bigfoot Mania,) but we did have some similar stuff as kids. Had a few of the SST revival ripcord vehicles, and I think a stunt bike similar to these. Left real nice little black skidmarks on hard floors.
I prefer Super Dave Osborne
At a hotel in, I think, Montreal, I learned that he had a variety show, and now the internet tells me it was five seasons’ worth! Apparently available on Tubi and Pluto.
Yes totally worth it! A lot of it on youTube 🙂
Ah yes, an opportunity for some unknown Evel trivia concerning his Snake Canyon jump. My boss was one of the engineers/fabricators of that steam-powered machine. The nozzle for the escaping steam had some odd dimensional requirements. They found that an Angel Food cake pan fit the dimensions, so they used one of those. They knew that Evel was a bit claustraphobic and would attempt to bail out of the vehicle at the first sign of trouble, so they reversed the five-point harness release side from the usual side. They figured that by the time that Evel figured it out, it be about the right time to release. As for the failed jump, the engineers failed to vent the parachute hold cover so the negative pressure generated by the acceleration pulled the cover off. If it had been vented, the pressure would have equalized and not been pulled off by differential air pressure.
Did the parachute self deploy after the cover blew off?
Yes, prematurely, which lead to the early halt to the jump.
I’d usually crank up Evel on his cycle and aim him right at Big Jim (hilarious name upon reflection). Big Jim would also chop a board in half if you pressed the panel on his back.
I had the stunt cycle! Launched him off the staircase and he landed on the floor furnace (remember those?), but I rescued him, and the minor scorch marks just added to the legend.
Me and that furnace had some history. My Mom sewed me up a Cookie Monster plushie and I left him on there once. He got grille marks, but I loved him anyway.
Then I dropped one of my Mom’s Elvis records on it. It came out of the sleeve and landed on its edge on the furnace grate and shattered. Smelled like burning plastic for a while. Mom wasn’t happy about the record, and Dad wasn’t thrilled trying to get all the melted bits out.
Thankfully, we moved before I had a chance to drop my sister’s chemistry set on it.
Yes! I had the motorcycle with a white “energizer.”
I can still recall the feel and sound of the crank (and maybe the feel and resultant sound of my knuckles scraping the pavement as my hand slipped). Oh, and the heaviness and inertia of the rear wheel on that bike. Good times …
I had the motorcycle one when I was very very young. I’d forgotten about it, but seeing it now makes me remember that I LOVED it.
As did I. Recall my older brother bought it for me as either a birthday or Christmas present in the late ’70s. Don’t remember whatever happened to it, but I think I “replaced” it as a favorite toy with a Dukes of Hazzard General Lee jumping track set that you could have crash through a wall during the jump.
Had the original as a kid, and I recall it being tough to launch at max power without him doing an endo.
The Evel Kinevel documentary is worth watching. Done near what would be the end of his life, it doesn’t shy away from the controversy and the issues, but it does show the human being behind it.
A movie that does shy away from the controversy is Viva Knievel!, also starring Leslie Nielsen (as the villain), Lauren Hutton, and other famous faces. I recommend it for being terrible and hilarious, not unlike Evel himself.
I LOVED that movie for its utter crappiness. Spoiler alert: Evel couldn’t act his way out of a wet paper bag.
And WTF was Gene Kelly doing in that thing?
Glorious.
Heck yeah! BEST, TOY, EVER (fight me) . I got one with the white motor probably 1974. One of the most dangerous toys after lawn darts, my fiberglass bow and arrow with the removable suction cups, and my “bag of glass” (TM). He lost a hand early on but the wire out of the stump made him more tough.
What about Johnny Switchblade (TM)?
Wuss. Evel would eat him for breakfast and ask for seconds!
Children’s breakfast back then being black coffee and cigarettes….
Been on my training table for years.
along with little chocolate donuts
I prefer Bag ‘O Glass, myself. Really, any of the Bag ‘O line
Sorry I lost my ” ‘O ” accent after we moved West, still call them sodas though, preferably with dry white toast
Twenty some years ago, we bought a house with a bunch of old toys in the shed. There were some of the classic metal Tonka trucks, a bunch of broken stuff, and a set of lawn darts!
I was super excited to see those and took them out to use immediately. I threw one up as high as I could, and as it started back down, my dog, Peaches, came running off the porch straight at me.
Directly in the downward trajectory of the lawn dart.
I started screaming at her to stop, and I startled her into veering away, right as the dart speared into the ground right about where she’d have been.
I gathered them up and dumped them right in the trash.
People joke about the wussification of everything, but lawn darts were objectively stupid. I have a similar story of us finding my wife’s family’s set of lawn darts recently, we were laughing at the premise when my son immediately picked one up and threw it directly at my daughter (who was luckily out of his sort of range).
And yep, straight to the trash with those lol.
Last time I handled a lawn dart was the early 80s, when I was screwing around throwing one up in the air. That ended when the dart landed in, not on, the table my dad was sitting at nearby, hence the last time I handled a lawn dart.
Way too many serious injuries with lawn darts to not make any other conclusion that they were a bad idea.
A friend across the street had lawn darts, I’m guessing this would have been around 1978. We played with them often. Not gonna lie, we were pretty good, and the manner in which they stuck into the ground was pretty satisfying.
Like most things from the 70’s though, I don’t know what the fuck we were all thinking.
Lawn darts were stupid, dangerous, and kind of awesome all at the same time.