Have you ever seen a monster truck up close? No, not that black Chevy Silverado with 22in chrome wheels and balloon tyres that menacingly filled up your rear-view mirror the other evening. That sad little poser trying to find a way out of his personality disorder doesn't count.
I'm talking about the real deal; ones that ride atop 66in tyres and go about flying high over haystacks and doing wheelies when they're not crushing a dozen clunkers. Those from the States are sure to nod in the affirmative. After all, monster truck stunts are a form of national pastime there and these giants regularly pull thousands of fans into stadiums and fairgrounds.
But even if you are not from the US and have not seen one for real, you'd definitely have heard of Bigfoot. No, not the mysterious ape-man whose sightings are stuff of urban legend, but the big daddy of all monster trucks that, even after three decades of existence, continues to thrill.
The amazing story of Bigfoot started in 1974 when US Navy veteran Bob Chandler and his wife Marilyn ordered a new Ford F-250 pick-up truck. Avid off-roaders, the couple soon found to their frustration that good parts and services for such vehicles were hard to come by in their locality.
This prompted them to think of starting a garage dedicated to 4x4s, which they did the very next year, together with neighbour and friend Jim Kramer. Called Midwest Four Wheel Drive, the garage soon became a hit in the neighbourhood and even beyond.
Chandler was known for his leaden right foot, which eventually earned him the nickname Bigfoot. Naturally then, his truck had frequent breakdowns from the rough treatment and this prompted him to modify it in a way that would withstand the abuse better. These included bigger 48in tyres, bigger military-style axles featuring four-wheel steering, and a souped-up 460 cubic inch big block V8 engine.
As Chandler started using his truck to advertise his business through 4x4 magazines and taking it to public events, its popularity soon transcended state boundaries. Now known as the Bigfoot, it was featured in several national 4x4 magazines, which referred to it as the "Monster Truck" for the first time.
This, together with a role in the film Take This Job and Shove It meant the Bigfoot was a national phenomenon by 1981. It was also in the same year that Chandler drove the Bigfoot over a pair of junk cars parked side-by-side, thus setting a trend that would eventually go on to be a national pastime in the US.
Chandler and his truck soon became fixtures in the live event circuit, and their growing popularity spawned many clones, who claimed to be bigger than Bigfoot. Chandler put an end to this by building a Bigfoot shod with 10-foot tall tyres, which was recognised by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest truck. It also holds the world records for the longest and the highest jumps by a Monster Truck as well as the fastest speed achieved in one.
Every new version of the Bigfoot (there have been 16 so far) has featured some innovation or the other, thus it's the first truck ever to feature a full tubular chassis and nitrogen shocks, to use 66in tyres, to feature a dedicated 10-foot-tyre chassis and the list goes on. But the one thing that remains constant is the fact that it's still the coolest set of wheels ever built.
