In the 1970s, there may not have been a more awesome dude than Evel Knievel. The jumps! The crashes! Many a big wheel and banana-seat bike were sent a few inches skyward, leaping off makeshift ramps in driveway recreations of Knievel's stunts.
For a time back in the 20th Century it seemed Knievel was the biggest thing. There were even Evel Knievel toys (see below). His derring-do on the back of a motorcycle, filled the fantasies of boys, young and old, and was always a must-see on television - Will he make it?! Or will he die?!
The stunt daredevil did die in 2007 at the age of 69, not in a spectacular blaze of glory, but from pulmonary disease. Ten years later, the Evel Knievel Museum opened in Topeka, Kansas filled with the largest collection of authentic Evel Knievel memorabilia in the world.
A Las Vegas newspaper reported Monday the museum will move to Las Vegas, Nevada. Amanda Beach, the museum’s marketing director, said Tuesday the report was “a bit premature” but the deal is “imminent.”
“This museum deserves to be in a tourism destination, and I don’t think anyone would question that Las Vegas makes the most sense for the Evel Knievel Museum to be there with Evel’s history in that city,” Beach said.
Las Vegas is where Evel Knievel cemented his fame in 1967. A jump over the fountains at Caesar's Palace. A spectacular crash.
If the deal to move the museum is finalized, the Topeka team would install and operate the museum in Las Vegas. The move is not going to happen immediately and could take a couple of years, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported.
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