BIGFOOT 50x50 Day 44, 1981: “The Fuse Is Lit”

One day in early 1981 Bob gets a wild idea that maybe BIGFOOT could drive over a couple of cars. He shares this idea with his good friend Jim Kramer, and asks if this is something he could set up. Jim calls his friend Tom Teson to ask if they could use a part of his farmland to do this in, and Tom agrees. The day comes on March 2, 1981. The cars are ready, the camera is ready, the truck is ready, Bob is ready. After warming up with some donuts, and maybe working up a little courage, Bob finally does it. He lines up to the trunks of the cars, his big foot hits the pedal and BIGFOOT is up and over the cars in a flash. He wheels around and decides to do it again. This time, he confidently parks BIGFOOT on top of the cars and then crawls down.

Now, no one can see the future. BIGFOOT wasn’t the first truck of some sort to crush a car, that honor probably belonging to a rowdy GI back in WWII. Jeff Dane’s King Kong certainly did before BIGFOOT, though many would argue it wasn’t yet a proper “monster” truck or it wasn’t a proper “car crush.” Whatever. Credit to both the King and the Kong for their efforts. Both are awesome. To us, what isn’t debatable is that Bob’s video footage of this event getting out of the shop and eventually causing promoters to demand that the showbiz-savvy truck perform this act for cash is a BIG deal. Insert whatever cosmic or fateful analogy you like. Either way, the fuse is lit.

A month later Take This Job and Shove It would premiere. Bob, Marilyn and BIGFOOT would go on a promotional tour for screenings of the film in places like St. Louis, Daytona Beach, and the filming location of Dubuque, Iowa. The demand for BIGFOOT was getting bigger and bigger and Bob was able to enlist his old pal, legendary wheelman Jim Kramer, to take some of the driving duties off of his shoulders. Jim would make his solo debut in Stockdale, Ohio at the Teays Valley Truck and Tractor Pull on July 10th.