Mike Relives the Thrill of Evel Knievel’s Career | American Pickers (S12) | History

MIKE: I’m in Kansas and I’m headed to meet Mike and Lathan at the Evel Knievel Museum. Evel Knievel was a real-life superhero. A few months ago, I was lucky enough to find not just a sign, but an original billboard from Evel Knievel’s Snake River Canyon jump. MIKE: 22 grand. BILL: Alright.
MIKE: Which was probably his most famous jump, because he wasn’t on a motorcycle, he was in a rocket. I’ve sent photos of the sign to the guys, and obviously, they’re interested. MIKE: Hey, hey. You Bruce?
BRUCE: Hey. What’s going on today?
BRUCE: Yeah. MIKE: I’m supposed to meet Mike and Lathan.
BRUCE: Okay, yeah. They’re in the museum.
Right around the front of the crash car, through this door, down the media hallway, you’re there.
MIKE: Okay.
MIKE: Right away I walk in and it is extremely impactful. I had no idea that the displays would be so intense. His leathers are there. There’s video, it’s interactive. His original jump bikes are on display. MIKE: Wow…
MIKE: It’s emotional. It’s immersive. It’s hands-on. MIKE: Whoa…
MIKE: It’s really incredible. MIKE: Mike! MIKE P.: Hey, hey.
MIKE: How are you doing, man? MIKE P.: You made it.
MIKE: Oh my God, this is epic. I just walked through a little bit of it, and it’s nuts. Hey, I’m Mike.
LATHAN: Lathan. MIKE: Nice to meet you guys.
LATHAN: Nice to see you. MIKE: Oh my God, this is like, obviously, you guys are legends. I’ve heard about this place before.
Buddy always talks about it because it’s gotten to the point now where the collection is so big that people are talking about it more and more.
The antique motorcycle meets and all that stuff.
So, it’s super cool man. MIKE P.: We’re glad you’re here.
MIKE P.: I’m Mike Patterson, this is Lathan McKay, and we are co-founders of the Evel Knievel Museum.
MIKE: I can’t believe how much square footage you guys have.
Ah!
LATHAN: Have you seen this one?
MIKE: I’ve absolutely never seen this one.
LATHAN: This is one of three signs that exist that we know of for Snake River Canyon.
MIKE: Yeah, yeah! Oh!
LATHAN: Because most of them were probably set on fire.
This one was taken by a guy and driven to California in the back of his van.
MIKE: If I saw this sign before I bought the Evel Knievel billboard that I own, I’d be like, this is the greatest thing in the world. This is advertising, this is motorcycle history, this is Evel Knievel. But I’m just thinking in the back of my mind, they are going to be so blown away when they see the billboard that I have. MIKE: I want to see what you got going on already for the Snake River Canyon jump. Where’s that at?
LATHAN: This is one of my favorite pieces.
This is specifically for the cover of Sports Illustrated.
And he went down to Perrine Falls, which is where he’s standing right now.
MIKE: Wow. LATHAN: And it’s one of my favorite pieces because that is the rarest cape.
There was only one of those capes made.
MIKE: Wow. When I walked up here What are these helmets from right here?
LATHAN: Caesar’s Palace.
MIKE: That’s Caesar’s Palace’s helmet?
LATHAN: Yeah. MIKE: Ah! My head’s gonna explode.
LATHAN: This is the Holy Grail. MIKE: Oh my gosh MIKE P.: Mike, look at the scratches on that thing.
MIKE: I mean, that’s what I’m looking at! I’m just like…
LATHAN: That’s head-first into the cement.
MIKE P.: And then he hits his head the other way and scrapes it up.
MIKE: This was the gladiator helmet that he wore when he went to battle. MIKE: So, was it Linda Evans’ husband John Derek that shot the whole thing? LATHAN: Yes.
MIKE: So, how did he come into play that day?
LATHAN: John Derek came into fascination with Evel, and he just wanted to shoot it because he thought it was gonna be the biggest thing in the world. MIKE: Yeah.
LATHAN: But Linda Evans, who eventually was on Dynasty, a big star, she shot the landing and John shot the takeoff.
MIKE: Oh, I didn’t know that they co-shot it together.
LATHAN: Yeah. She shot him ragdolling down the crash.
MIKE: Wow!
MIKE P.: And that crash really vaulted his career.
MIKE: Yeah, obviously. MIKE P.: So, I don’t know if he would’ve made it that day on Caesars, I’m not sure we’re standing here talking about an Evel Knievel museum.
LATHAN: It was the fact that he got back up.
MIKE P.: And he got back up.
LATHAN: He kept that helmet specifically.
Like, he gave away everything else in his life.
That’s the one thing that he held like a Faberge egg.
MIKE: Yeah, he coveted it. LATHAN: It was his Faberge egg.
MIKE: Whoa. Ah! The Holy Ground. Right there.
MIKE: Now, is this the original?
MIKE P.: No, there were two Sky Cycles.
It was not known there was two, it was kept secret because they wanted to test shoot one about a month before the event.
MIKE: This is one they shot with nobody in it.
MIKE P.: They shot with nobody in it.
LATHAN: They had a dummy in it. MIKE: Did they really?
MIKE P.: Yeah. MIKE: Like a crash test dummy?
MIKE P.: Yeah. Yeah. But this thing went straight in the canyon as well.
So, that’s when Evel was like, “Uh-oh, this is a problem.” He wanted to see a successful one, and it didn’t come close.
And he figured he was getting in this thing, and pushing a button to his death.
LATHAN: It was the only time in his career that he thought he was going to perish.
MIKE P.: Yeah. LATHAN: He really was giving himself 50/50.
MIKE P.: He had no choice. He said he was going to do it.
MIKE: Kept his word. MIKE P.: He kept his word.
The other incredible story is when he had tested a month before, he got in with his suit, and they found out he could not detach himself from his belts from the suit. MIKE: Okay. Yeah.
MIKE P.: If he, in fact, crashed in the water…
MIKE: He would’ve just drowned. MIKE P.: He’d have drowned.
So, they quickly had another suit made where he would be able to unhinge it.
MIKE: Yeah. MIKE P.: It came to the day of the event, strapping him in. The crew says, “Evel, you put the wrong suit on.” MIKE: Oh (bleep).
MIKE P.: He put on the old suit. He said, “Too late now.” MIKE: Oh my God.
MIKE P.: So, when he was heading towards the water, he would’ve perished in the water. He would’ve drowned.
LATHAN: He literally lands 10 feet from the water.
He would’ve been gone. MIKE: Oh my God.
LATHAN: He was very lucky that day.
MIKE P.: He did not make the jump.
MIKE: He was very lucky his whole life.
MIKE P.: Yeah, he was. But he felt like he won because he survived.
MIKE: And then where did you acquire this?
LATHAN: Niagara Falls, Canada.
One of the stories is that Evel had to hide it somewhere, but it was up in Niagara Falls for like 25, 30 years.
MIKE: That wheel is off an airplane, isn’t it?
MIKE P.: A lot of the pieces were sourced from an airplane.
LATHAN: It’s mostly aeronautical parts and pieces.
He spent seven years of his life on this project.
MIKE P.: And it wasn’t enough. MIKE: Oh, no kidding, it was that long. So, he had engineers on it and everything that long? LATHAN: Mike, every bike that he had, had a set of wings on it with a Turbonique mail order propulsion kit that is a death trap. MIKE: Really?
LATHAN: It would kill the average man in five seconds.
It was a long journey for him, but it shows the drive and determination of what he was all about.
MIKE: I sent you the photo of the sign.
Like, where were you going to put this?
I mean, you’d have to put it like right here or something.
MIKE P.: It’s just not going to fit in this place.
We are moving this museum to Las Vegas.
MIKE: Really? MIKE P.: Yeah.
We’re only going to be open here a few more months, and then making the transition.
It’s been great in Topeka, but obviously Las Vegas is where the Evel museum should be.
MIKE: I can’t even imagine how busy you guys will be in Las Vegas.
How many tourists a year? Over 50 million or something.
MIKE P.: Over 50 million tourists a year.
MIKE: To me, his lifestyle, the daredevil that lives in all of us and what it evokes, that’s Las Vegas.
The gambler high, man. LATHAN: Going big in Vegas.
MIKE: He was the biggest gambler ever.
MIKE: He gambled with his life, always.
LATHAN: We need a big sign for Las Vegas because it’s big.
MIKE: Yeah, well, I got it, man.
MIKE P.: We’ve known about this sign, but we never really knew it still existed.
MIKE: Okay, so you guys, like, knew from the doc.
MIKE: You did, you’ve seen the footage of it.
LATHAN: Yeah, but it’s the largest one, and we’ve never laid eyes on it so we can’t wait to see it.
MIKE: Yeah. I want to… Dude, I’m jacked up to show it to you. I mean, I was excited to show it to you on the way over here because you guys have a museum.
MIKE: But now after walking through here and seeing the caliber of what you’ve created…
LATHAN: That’s more Evel connectivity. That’s how we met you.
MIKE: Yes, absolutely. It’s just the right amount of energy, you know what I mean?
MIKE: It’s like, when Bill sold it to me, the reason he turned it loose, he’s like, “Listen, I’ve had this stacked up, stored for so many years. It’s got to go somewhere.” MIKE P.: Nobody’s seen it. MIKE: It didn’t take me long to figure out I got to call you.
MIKE P.: We’ve very appreciative.
We can’t wait to see it. MIKE: Well, dude, let’s go look at it.
MIKE: Well, let’s do it. I’m not kidding.
Yeah, I mean, I’ll talk about it, be about it.
You know. And that’s what it’s all about.
MIKE: You guys are going to freak out on this thing.
MIKE P.: Oh man.
MIKE P.: We get a lot of calls about a lot of artifacts. And I have to say, our first thought is usually it’s not real.
It’s kind of where we start. But getting a call from Mike Wolfe was another level, and we knew that it was probably something legit.
MIKE: Alright. I’m gonna need some help, because it’s freaking huge.
Let me hand one out to you. So, this is the middle one.
MIKE P.: Oh God.
That’s beautiful. MIKE: Okay, you got it?
MIKE P.: Wow! Got it. MIKE: Alright, you sure?
Okay. You got it? LATHAN: Yep.
MIKE: Do-si-do.
Okay, here we go.
Okay. Look at that.
Oh my God, this is so cool.
Alright, here goes.
That’s freaking nuts.
LATHAN: The snake is complete.
MIKE: I know! Look at that thing, man.
Stand back and check it out, dude. Look at that.
LATHAN: Wow. MIKE: I know, right?
LATHAN: That’s… MIKE: Right?
LATHAN: That’s amazing. MIKE: Is it what I said?
MIKE P.: That is… MIKE: Look at that, man.
LATHAN: That’s incredible. MIKE: Oh my gosh.
MIKE P.: That’s really… MIKE: It’s just so breathtaking, man.
MIKE P.: It’s amazing. It’s magical.
MIKE: Let me tell you what I want to do. Um…
I came here with the intention of saying, you know, “Hey, I wanted to make a little bit of money on it.
I wanted to do 25,” you know.
But in all honesty, I paid $22,000 for it, and after seeing what you guys have done, what you’re going to do, I just can’t bring myself to make a dime on it.
I just can’t. MIKE P.: Wow.
MIKE: I mean, there’s just no way.
MIKE P.: I was really appreciative MIKE: I hate to even charge you the 22, but I’m into this deep, you know what I mean?
MIKE P.: Yeah, I get it. MIKE: And I understood the significance of it right away.
MIKE P.: It is significant. It is.
MIKE: I think there’s a certain level of energy about how this whole thing came together. When Bill called us, it was about getting it in the hands of someone that would really understand it and respect it. But after having it for a while, I realized it was about more than just going to a good caretaker. I knew that it had to be somewhere where everyone could see it. The fact that it’s coming to the museum just as they’re moving to Vegas is perfect timing. MIKE: I’m glad it’s found its forever home, dude.
There’s nowhere on the planet that this should be other than with you guys. I mean, there just really isn’t.
I mean, you guys have inspired me, man.
You really have.
MIKE: It’s one thing to have a passion, but to take that passion and turn it into something that people are inspired by, and that the world can see, is pretty incredible. MIKE: Okay, thank you, buddy.