Robin Winter-Smith was a
daredevil motorcycle jumper, a member of both the
British Army Team "The White Helmets" and later "the Magnificent Seven Stunt Team" (a.k.a. "the Mag Seven").
He died in Elstree, England in 1979 during an attempt to jump 30 Rolls Royces on his motorcycle, a jump he had made safely and successfully several times before. Famous for never using a landing ramp, he ironically decided to finally start using one the day he died.
There is a great song called "The Ballad of Robin Winter-Smith," written by Richard Dobson but made (semi-)famous by Nanci Griffith.
Mamma's in the kitchen rattlin' pans and the baby cries,
on the TV news, somebody died
He was a crazy biker in a motorcycle ridin' daredevil show,
in Merry England, oh, ... twenty seven years old
He was tryin' to break the record for jumpin' over cars*, he was the champ
He fell a little bit short ... oh, hit the ramp
This is the story, it's sad and it's gory, of Robin Winter-Smith
He was a very brave man if you get my drift
'Cause he waved to the crowd, headed down the runway like a
man possessed,
Robin Winter-Smith ... I guess he did his best
I make a livin' singing these songs and I hang out in bars
I play my guitar ... oh, but honey, I don't jump over cars
Mamma's in the kitchen rattlin' pans and the baby cries,
on the TV news ... somebody died
He was a crazy biker in a motorcycle ridin' daredevil show,
in Merry England, oh, ... twenty seven years old
*
Actually, he wasn't trying to break a record; he had already completed this jump successfully. But it sounds good in the song.