By Brian Lohnes

BangShift.com

Evel Knievel is an interesting character study. On the one hand there is the guy with the panache, guts, and skill to fly a too heavy motorcycle over too far a distance in front of tens of thousands of people. On the other hand there is a man who did many questionable things in his personal life and really never lived up to the message that he preached to his followers. Personal faults aside, he managed to create a global aura around himself and reach a level of fame that was virtually unheard of in the days long before the internet and “global” media.

As you’d expect there are tons of great videos of Knievel in action from the 1970′s on YouTube. Here’s a sampling of some that caught our eye. He was a hell of a character and there is little doubt that his hard living, bone breaking lifestyle in this era, led to his hastened passing in ours. See more Evel Knievel videos at BangShift.com

Barely a month after Evel Knievel’s death, a swanky custom Vogue Single-Slide coach designed and built for the daredevil is up on eBay. With a starting price of $225,000, bidders aren’t exactly lining up, but at this point the listing is only a couple of hours old. Check it out!

As a person with little regard for my own safety, I was saddened by the news that Evel Knievel died. Now for the news:

• I’m not sure I could see myself commuting in this solar powered car: Winding Road
• WRC rally car racing may be returning to the U.S. of A! FIA wants to run a regional competition in North America next year: Autoweek
• I can’t  wait to see what Lewis Hamilton does on the Top Gear track in the reasonably priced car challenge: BBC 
• GM is set to lose $1 BEEEELLLLION this year, but says it will break even next year and show a profit in 2009: DetNews

Evel Knievel pulled a lot of insane stunts during his career as a daredevil—including a failed jump of the fountains at Caesar’s Palace which left him comatose for 29 days—but perhaps the most improbable stunt he pulled was living to be a senior citizen. In a world full of fake bad-asses, he was the real deal. Godspeed Evel—we’ll miss you! For more info, see the Associated Press obit.