OCC Founder To Unveil One-Of-A-Kind Chopper At International Airport

CLEARWATER, FL — Those born to be wild are invited to attend the unveiling of a one-of-a-kind chopper designed by Orange County Choppers founder Paul Teutul Sr. Tuesday at 10 a.m. at the St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport baggage claim.

The custom motorcycle will showcase images of iconic locations around St. Petersburg and Clearwater and will sit alongside a newly released Harley-Davidson motorcycle from Bert’s Barracuda.

The public is invited to meet Teutul Sr., who will be shaking hands, posing for pictures and signing autographs at the bike unveiling.

The event will be hosted by PIE, Visit St. Pete/Clearwater and the OCC Roadhouse & Museum at the airport, 14700 Terminal Blvd., Clearwater.

Teutul Sr. is the founder of Orange County Choppers, a manufacturer of custom motorcycles in Orange County, New York, which became the focus of the reality television series American Chopper on the Discovery Channel in 2002. Teutel's new show, Orange County Choppers, premiered on CMT in 2013.

Last June, Teutul Sr. joined forces with hospitality executive Keith Overton and Bert King of Bert's Barracuda Harley-Davidson to open the first Orange County Choppers Road House & Museum, 10575 49th St. N, Pinellas Park, featuring a full restaurant and bar, live music and a museum highlighting Teutul's custom choppers featured in the television series along with hundreds of rare items from his collection of biker memorabilia.

Tuesday's unveiling will be filmed for the television show and, in addition to the custom OCC chopper and the latest Harley-Davidson model, will include a 7- by 9-foot display area with four large video screens featuring revolving images of the footage showing the bike being built.

The display will also serve as a welcome message to PIE travelers with an invitation to visit the OCC Road House & Museum and Bert's Barracuda Harley-Davidson.

Throughout the visitors' campaign, the Harley-Davidson models will be changed out as new models arrive at Bert's Barracuda Harley-Davidson.

Those planning to attend should park in short-term parking and enter the baggage claim area at the airport. Parking validation will be provided at the information booth with your parking ticket. Click here to RSVP.

The new visitors' welcome comes just as PIE announced an all-time record-breaking July for the airport with 278,618 passengers.

For the year, traffic at PIE is up 29 percent, marking the fifth consecutive month of breaking monthly records.

PIE now serves 65 non-stop destinations.