Photo: Columbia/Tristar
Movie memorabilia usually change hands for large amounts of money, but this is one case in which the buyer will never be able to say that they got their money’s worth in terms of the product's authenticity. The iconic, incredibly valuable Captain America is also the world’s most controversial to this day.
Captain America, Easy Rider Captain America, or the Easy Rider chopper, is the world’s most expensive Harley-Davidson chopper and one of the most expensive bikes ever created and sold at auction. Adding to its value is the association with the counter-culture and anti-establishment movement, made possible through its appearance in the 1969 film Easy Rider, with Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Jack Nicholson.
No one knows for a fact what happened with the original Captain America bikes built for the film (either two or four of them), but the most widespread story is that they were stolen at gunpoint right after production was completed. Their build history is equally muddled, with most of the people involved in the process telling different stories at different times—and no longer around to set the record straight.
What is known for a fact is that the Captain America used in the crash scene at the end of the film was not taken to the junkyard but handed over to the supposed original builder (and the most unreliable narrator in the entire story), Dan Haggerty. Years later, he would sell two different Captain Americas, both of them claiming to be original. One ended up at auction in 2014 and sold for a reported $1.35 million (before auction fees), even though its authenticity was challenged just days before.
The other has just re-emerged. It’s the piece Haggerty and collector Gary Graham rebuilt from salvaged parts from the original, laying around in Haggerty’s garage. Graham funded the venture under the agreement that Haggerty would repay him the loan later on. He never did, so Graham sold the bike off to Gordon Granger, through the Daniel Kruse Classic Car Productions, in 1996, for $63,000. The bike has been in Texas since, and it’s now offered at auction, with an estimate between $300,000 and $500,000.
The bike comes with three letters of authenticity: from Graham, Haggerty, and Kruse. But, as noted above, Haggerty was never a reliable source: in 2008, he said he’d sold the original to the Guggenheim Museum. Later, he admitted that Granger’s bike had only some parts from the original (“a few bits and pieces, a chain or a fender, nothing more”), saying he’d kept the frame for himself. Shortly after, Haggerty signed a letter that authenticated Granger’s bike, only to recant later and call it an honest mistake.
Real or not, partly authentic or not at all, Captain America will be crossing the auction block on June 5, 2021, in Texas. It has a Panhead engine (VTwin 74ci with 52 hp), paired to a manual 4-speed transmission, no odometer, and is not operational. More importantly, it has legend status, representing “a longing for a simpler life, one of adventure and the open road,” as Dan Kruse says.
No one knows for a fact what happened with the original Captain America bikes built for the film (either two or four of them), but the most widespread story is that they were stolen at gunpoint right after production was completed. Their build history is equally muddled, with most of the people involved in the process telling different stories at different times—and no longer around to set the record straight.
What is known for a fact is that the Captain America used in the crash scene at the end of the film was not taken to the junkyard but handed over to the supposed original builder (and the most unreliable narrator in the entire story), Dan Haggerty. Years later, he would sell two different Captain Americas, both of them claiming to be original. One ended up at auction in 2014 and sold for a reported $1.35 million (before auction fees), even though its authenticity was challenged just days before.
The other has just re-emerged. It’s the piece Haggerty and collector Gary Graham rebuilt from salvaged parts from the original, laying around in Haggerty’s garage. Graham funded the venture under the agreement that Haggerty would repay him the loan later on. He never did, so Graham sold the bike off to Gordon Granger, through the Daniel Kruse Classic Car Productions, in 1996, for $63,000. The bike has been in Texas since, and it’s now offered at auction, with an estimate between $300,000 and $500,000.
The bike comes with three letters of authenticity: from Graham, Haggerty, and Kruse. But, as noted above, Haggerty was never a reliable source: in 2008, he said he’d sold the original to the Guggenheim Museum. Later, he admitted that Granger’s bike had only some parts from the original (“a few bits and pieces, a chain or a fender, nothing more”), saying he’d kept the frame for himself. Shortly after, Haggerty signed a letter that authenticated Granger’s bike, only to recant later and call it an honest mistake.
Real or not, partly authentic or not at all, Captain America will be crossing the auction block on June 5, 2021, in Texas. It has a Panhead engine (VTwin 74ci with 52 hp), paired to a manual 4-speed transmission, no odometer, and is not operational. More importantly, it has legend status, representing “a longing for a simpler life, one of adventure and the open road,” as Dan Kruse says.
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