7 Inch Daredevil and Vince Ream Drive Legend of Evel Knievel

Ron Wilshire

Ron Wilshire

Published July 22, 2021 11:40 am
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NEW BETHLEHEM, Pa. (EYT) — Evel Knievel is long gone but Seven Inch Daredevil (AKA Vince Ream of New Bethlehem) is doing his best to honor the legend by using the classic toy to make unbelievable jumps.

(Pictured: Seven Inch Daredevil with Vince Ream near New Bethlehem.)

Anointed by the Knievel family as the Seven Inch Daredevil (the height of most action figures), Ream has built a following with appearances at rallies and using the complete toy and accompanying motorcycle to make jumps over real vehicles and people just like Evel.

Ream, 55, now has his own YouTube Channel videos with a million hits of his jumps and serves as a consultant with California Creations, the company that makes new versions of the classic toy.

His day job is working with the developmentally disabled.

“If you’re not into Evel Knievel or the toys, you’ve probably never heard of me, but if you have heard of me, you’re a fan.”

In other words, Seven Inch Daredevil is a rock star for this niche and is greeted with acclaim in places like Mitchell, South Dakota.

He will be appearing during the first week of August at the Evel Knievel Toy’s First Official stunt cycle jump rally in Mitchell, S.D. The rally and competition will be held in front of the World’s Only Corn Palace.

Vince is jumping to set a Guinness World Record for the longest jump by a toy stunt cycle. The competition is an Evel Knievel Games officially-sanctioned event sponsored by California Creations, evelknieveltoys.com.

eval truck

The Seven Inch Daredevil officially jumped 13 feet and 4 inches over 22 Evel Knievel vans, trucks, and cars, a new indoor record for Seven. He also presented the Boy Scouts with $700.00 in donations thanks to K&K Promotions (which is Kelly Knievel and family), DuBois Harley-Davidson, and several other individual fans.

“I guess it really started around 2000 when I was ordering Evel Knievel toys on eBay and repairing them,” said Ream. “The collection grew and grew through the years.”

Among his purchases were the popular 1970’s toy stunt cycles, which were hand-cranked and whipped across the room.

“I’ve always been a fan of Evel,” said Ream. “He was an institution. All us kids looked up to him, we wanted to be like him, and we’d take our Schwinns out over these ramps just like he did.”

The jumping part started around 2006, and his step-grandchildren were excited to see the jumps, even though they had no idea who Evel Knievel was. They are older now but still enjoy the work of seven Inch Daredevil.

After the first jump, he took one into his shop, modifying it to hold as much power as possible. In his front yard, with his grandchildren as his only spectators, the toy stunt cycle jumped over a motorcycle.

“I thought it was pretty cool, but I thought that was as far as it would go.”

However, the next year people from the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee got hold of Ream, hearing about his extensive collection of Evel memorabilia.

Evel, out standing in his field.

Evel, out standing in his field.

The curators liked all the red, white, and blue, but they were intrigued the most by the stunt cycle that could hop cars.

Word also spread that he did repairs on the toys and that turned into a business of its own.

“I became recognized as the guy to go to get parts for store bikes. I get requests from all over the world. Quite anyone can repair them but they don’t.”

Ream makes his own jump ramps and will take them with him for this year’s appearance. I painted them white for this purpose because of the likely heat out west. I modify them to make the motorcycles go faster.

Ream’s reputation continued to grow, and he was invited to bring his show from everywhere from local scout meetings to Montana.

“The August show isn’t my first rodeo. I performed on Radio Disney Toy Story and for the Harley Davidson museum. The interest varies over time and there’s a mountain and then you drop into the valley for a while, and then you climb up again. I’m climbing again, and I’ve always expected it would happen.”

Ream also rides a full-size motorcycle, but he won’t be riding to South Dakota on it this year with his partner Judy Rawson.

“I had a quadruple bypass, and I’m still not 100 percent.”

Although he doesn’t wear a jumpsuit for shows, he does have custom jumpsuits that he makes for the seven-inch figures. He also makes the jumpsuits, but if you get close, you can see he is not a seamstress.

It is another world when Ream walks down the road in town that worships Evel Knievel.

“They recognize me and cheer, calling ‘seven’ and lately ‘GOAT,’ Greatest of All Time. I probably would have been falling down drunk if I took every beer that someone tried to give me.”

The rise in popularity has also brought him, groupies. Groupies are everywhere.

“It’s unbelievable, but it’s true as God is my witness. I finally found a partner that actually supports what I do. There’s no complaint when I do shows. I get photos with beautiful-looking women and Judy doesn’t get upset.”

“I’m very popular at these places, but when I come back nobody knows who I am, and that’s not a bad thing.”

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