Captain America Chopper Most Expensive Hollywood Bike
The Captain America chopper ridden in the movie Easy Rider has been on display in Iowa in the National Motorcycle Museum for a long time. Now, the Harley Panhead Chopper, its correct name, which Peter Fonda rode in 1969 has just sold for a record of US$1.35 million and has become known as the most expensive bike sold at auction. The bike sold at the Profiles in History auction on 17 October 2014 in Hollywood.
The iconic motorcycle more than doubled the price tag set by the previous holder of the most expensive bike sold at auction, a 1910 Winchester which took the title from Vincent Black Shadow, aka Bathing Suit.
This means that the Captain America Chopper sits firmly at the top of the list and it could be there for quite some time to come as it will take some beating. Before the auction went ahead and people began to bid, there had been several statements read out about the authenticity of the bike. This model is the last remaining Captain America motorcycle that was actually ridden in the Easy Rider film.
It wasn't long before bidding reached US$1,000,000 and then it began to creep up in increments of $25,000 before finally reaching its final selling price of US$1.3 million. Before the auction it was estimated that the bike could fetch a price tag of between US$1,000,000 and US$1,200,000.
This is one of the most well-known of motorcycles in the history of movie bikes. It played a big role in one of the all-time favorite motorcycle gang movies featuring Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper and Jack Nicholson. The bike started out in life being used by the Los Angeles Police Department and was bought second hand and then modified for its role in the film. Harley Davidson refused to supply their motorcycles to be used in the film as they said that the film portrayed outlaw motorcyclists.
There was said to be some conjecture as to actually how many Captain America bikes were used from the police bikes, with some people saying it was two and others disagreeing and believing four were used. One of the bikes was stolen after the film was completed and released and no one knows where it is; it is unlikely to make an appearance ever again.
The bike sold recently at auction was ridden by Fonda with Nicholson on the back as a passenger, it was also the bike that was used in the final sequence of the film where it was shown to have crashed and burned. It was then given away by Fonda to Dan Haggerty along with a letter of authenticity and it was restored to its former glory.
