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Evel Knievel’s Leathers Are Up For Grabs

Ask any American over the age of forty to name the greatest daredevil that ever lived, and the answer will most likely be Evel Knievel. It’s enough to mention “motorcycle stunt, ” and people will immediately picture a man in white and red leathers jumping over a dozen buses. And for the right sum, you can now own those famous leathers.
Evel Knievel suit for sale 7 photos
Photo: Heritage Auctions
Evel Knievel leather suit and walking stickEvel Knievel leather suit and walking stickEvel Knievel leather suit and walking stickEvel Knievel leather suit and walking stickEvel Knievel leather suit and walking stickEvel Knievel leather suit and walking stick
Yes, an auction house is putting some of Evel Knievel’s leathers up for sale. The legend sported several different variations of the “stars and bars” garments throughout his career, basically adopting new ones out of necessity when high speed spills ruined the day.

The set provided here was worn during the successful leap over fifty crushed cars at the Los Angeles Coliseum on February 18, 1973. The jump provided Knievel his largest audience to date; 35,000 in the grandstands and a nation glued to the TV broadcast of the event.

Knievel also donned the suit in a portion of a motorcycle safety film shot at the same location, entitled “Not So Easy”, narrated by Peter Fonda, who had himself gained iconic status in bike culture through his blockbuster “Easy Rider”.

The suit is currently estimated at $30,000, but that’s not all. You can also buy Evel’s famous diamond-studded walking stick. Held in his grip in just about any photograph in which his hands were not wrapped around the handlebars of a Harley, the walking stick was unquestionably a showman's tool, a nod to the Gilded Age that perfectly suited Knievel's celebrated bravado.

The walking stick served purposes both structural and pharmaceutical, each a necessity for a man for whom serious injury was the cost of doing business. While medical science was skilled in reassembling the jigsaw puzzle of Knievel's skeleton after his bone-jarring crashes, the pain was a constant companion of the famed daredevil. When not needed for support, the top of the stick could be unscrewed to reveal a hollow interior just large enough for liquor-laden glass flasks to help douse the flames of Knievel's angry nerve endings, or to steady them before the next jump.

At the moment of writing, the walking stick was estimated at $17,000. So, if you want to get into possession of one or both of these legendary items, the auction will be hosted by Heritage Auctions and will conclude in Dallas on February 25-26.
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