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Evel Knievel's daredevil gear may fetch $100,000 at auction

Crash helmet used during failed '75 London stunt, trademark leather jumpsuit up for sale

Image: Evel knievels's jumpsuitReuters
The jumpsuit was a trademark of famed daredevil Evel Knievel.

LOS ANGELES - The blue and white crash helmet worn by the late Evel Knievel in a daredevil 1975 London motorcycle jump, and one of his signature leather jumpsuits, are expected to fetch more than $100,000 at a Los Angeles auction next week.

Auction house Profiles in History said on Wednesday the leather jumpsuit was one of the last surviving custom-made suits worn by the American stunt performer, who died in 2007 at the age of 69. Knievel was photographed wearing it on the cover of a 1999 biography of him by Ace Collins.

Knievel, whose real name was Robert Knievel, wore the helmet in his famous May 1975 attempt to leap over 13 single-decker buses in London — a stunt that ended in a spectacular crash and left him with a broken hand and pelvis.

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The London jump, which came about nine months after Knievel attempted to leap over the Snake River Canyon in Idaho, caused the entertainer to declare his retirement — although he continued his daredevil career for another 11 years until 1981.

Profiles in History said the suit is expected to fetch $40,000 to $60,000 at its Dec. 15-16 auction, while the battered crash helmet could fetch $60,000 to $80,000.

The Los Angeles auction house said both items come from a private collection.

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