Cracking Evel Knievel’s forgotten safe

Mar 27, 2012

Updated Mar 18, 2025

What do you do when you find a safe nestled in the floor while gutting motorcycle-jump legend Evel Knievel’s 1974 Mack FS700 haul rig? If you’re Robb Mariani, host of “American Trucker” on the Speed Channel, and truck restorer Brad Wike, you open it.

An Overdrive editor was on hand for the Feb. 18 safe-cracking at Wike’s shop in Lincolnton, N.C. View the video below, and for photos and reporting from the event, read Todd Dills’ posts on his Channel 19 blog from Feb. 17 and Feb. 20.

Also, find a video run-through with Wike of the early stages of restoring via this link.

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