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Evel Knievel

Wind-up rightwing stuntman

Evel KnievelYou won’t get anyone like Evel Knievel again. A mid-western bike shop owner with a taste for self-publicity, Evel somehow managed to hold great swathes of the international media in his hand, as he set up ever more elaborate stunt jumps with his trusty bike.

The famed Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle consisted of a semi-poseable Evel figure and bike which hooked up to a red plastic “energiser” with a chunky white handle with which you wound the bike’s gyro. Then off he’d race, to jump over ramps, flaming hoops, cats etc. Then there was the similarly energized Stunt and Crash Car whose appeal was limited as the figure, safely ensconced inside, couldn’t fall off and bend his limbs in the wrong direction in a Wembley Stadium style.

Other merchandise included the Dragster, the trail bike, the scramble van, the Super Jet Cycle (daft sci-fi bike with plastic thrusters), the Fast Tracker (chunky moon buggy/quad bike affair), Escape from Skull Canyon (some green plastic rocks for Evel to jump over), and other still more esoteric stuff no one you knew ever owned. Sadly, the man’s career peaked with the overblown prog stunt that was Snake Canyon and rotten film Viva Knievel, and his trans-Atlantic fame quickly faded.

Further reading:
Life of Evel: Evel Knievel by Stuart Barker



Posted on January 13, 2006 by Registered CommenterSteve in , , | Comments17 Comments

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Reader Comments (17)

Don't forget us poor children, or worse, children with parents who hadn't grasped what this toy meant to life on the flat piece of pavement before dusk. I am refereing to the distant relative "Turbo Tower of Power". I had a bike but there may have been more variations.
Jan 15, 2006 | Unregistered Commentersteven
Yeah! I had one of these an all! It was skiiiiiiiiillllllllllllllllllllllllll!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mine broke so Dad nipped off down Co-op and got me a replacement but it had a plastic Evel on it you couldn't move....so that was a bit naffer....

Ahh memories of bendy likkle Evel careening off the staircase to his doom!
Jan 16, 2006 | Unregistered Commenterstan
I'll have you chaps know that I owned the rocket bike and it was ace - the rocket pods had sparks appear when it was going and everything!

So ner!
Jan 19, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterAdz
Anybody remember the cheap cash-in, much rarer-but-not-as-good "Mike Power(?)" bike? Basically it was the same thing (i.e. doll on a bike) but instead of the red plastic booster thing, it was somehow powered by a space-age spangly mesh glove with a power-pack on it?
Jan 26, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterKev

Not an indoor toy at all. Drove my parents absolutely mad with it. Although a durable toy, mine was destroyed when my pal's big brother built a ramp in front of a small bonfire that was crackling away in an adjacent garden. He wound it up and sent Knievel soaring into the orange flames. Glorious, in a way.
Jan 30, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterTobias Gast
Absolutely my favourite toy, right up until the day I left the booster-thing too near the fire and it melted !
The bike could be revved up by repeatedly pushing it before letting it go, but it never got to a decent speed.
A great favourite for school toy day, jumping from one desk to another.
When are we going to get a modern radio control version ?
They'd sell millions to 30/40something boys like me.
Feb 7, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterKevin Hardy
I used to shoot mine out of the window with Action Man attached with his parachute. Niether fared well on impact ! Doh !
Feb 22, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterSteveBB
Just checked out the posts on Evel Knievel stunt bikes . They brought back many happy memories . I owned the chopper version which gave me a certain amount of playground kudos as you didn't see many around. Unfortunately as an act of revenge one of my younger brothers (I still don't know which one ) disected the evel figure, though I still havwe the head complete with helmet, a rather macabre childhood relic I admit but it still reminds me of the enjoyment I got from this toy. On a happier note I hope to be buying the super stunt set from back to basics toys for about £30 cant wait lol.
Mar 16, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterTim
For years, I was certain Evel Knievel was dead. Maybe succumbed to drugs and booze in the early 80's, the Elvis Presley of stuntmen. It was only in the last few years I learned he still exists (and is now 68).

I remember well my Super Stunt Cycle. However, Evel's legs got slightly crisped after an accidental close encounter with a bonfire one November 5th. Maybe I was trying to make him jump through flaming hoops or something.
Sep 1, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterUncle Feedle
You can now buy these online from Hawkin's bazaar. Look exactly the same with stunt bike, launcher and ring of fire.

We had great fun in the office when someone bought one recently.
Oct 27, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterVictoria
I also owned the Rocket Bike it was Ace !!!

So ner!!
Apr 22, 2007 | Unregistered CommenterNev
the rocket car was cool. The best fun was watching yer fag smoking beer filled dad revving the bollocks out of it before letting it go. An amazing sound. The toy sounded good too!
Jul 1, 2007 | Unregistered CommenterAndy
I had the light cycle and although it was a little more lumpen than the stunt bike, you got the sparks out of the boosters which were pure excitement as far as I was concerned.

The best stunt I got mine to do indoors was to send it running off the dinner table whereupon it would land on its front wheel, do a somersault and continue into the kitchen with style and panache. Evel never looked so good. The cats didn't like it though.
Dec 7, 2007 | Unregistered CommenterDon Cool
I had the motorcycle with the Evil action figure. I was playing at a friend's place, and we went in to watch Batman. His brother was mowing the lawn and ran over my toy. We heard the crunch and crash from inside and came running out. The bike was spread out all over the lawn, but Evil managed to escape injury. I still have him up on a shelf...
Dec 14, 2007 | Unregistered CommenterKen
Who remembers the dragster - proper rare. It had a parachute as well!

was it just me or did everyone have difficulties getting evel to sit down properly on the bike? oh the memories of racing it down the hallway (chipping the paint off the skirting)!!!!
Dec 29, 2007 | Unregistered CommenterRay
has any one heard or seen a radio shaped like a tire with a pic, of evel on one side doing a wheely standing on the seat, and the otherside was the speaker, it was & inch dia.apprx. i remember seeing one of his jmps on tv and they showed it, it was sold as souvenier at the jump, I think over a canon I found one and wonder how much to give for it
Jan 6, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterJL
Like Steven (1st comment) I also had the Turbo Tower of Power. It worked by pumping away (ooh er missus!) at something similar to those things you blow ballons up with (only vertical) but the most memorable thing was the bloody awful high-pitched whine it produced when you pumped! (ooh err.. oh I've done that one). But it had one advantage over the Evel Knievel set cause you got two ramps and a roll out plastic mat with cars printed on it (beat that suckers!)
Jan 10, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterMick

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