BIGFOOT 50x50 Day 40, 1985: “Ten Years In”

1985 began like any other year for the BIGFOOT organization. Show, show, show, go, go, go. In the first week of January alone, 1 was in Michigan, 2 in California, 3 in Tennessee and 4 in Louisiana. In May, Bob and BIGFOOT driver George Link put duals onto BIGFOOT 2 and raced a paddleboat down the Chattahoochee River. In June, Jim Kramer would take BIGFOOT 4 over to California to showcase the truck in the stunt show portion of the Universal Backlot Tour. In May, a newcomer would show up. This baby blue baby would now be the fifth official vehicle in the seemingly ever-growing BIGFOOT organization, but instead of a numbered designation, she would be given a title, Ms. BIGFOOT.

Ms. BIGFOOT was the last FOOT vehicle to start out as a stock Ford truck. A Ranger, that during reconstruction was beefed up, stretched and formed into a gorgeous and unique vehicle. A softer, baby blue would compliment the chrome and brilliant graphics done by the late Dan Patterson. But there was nothing soft about Ms. BIGFOOT under the hood and frame. Sitting on 48-inch tires with an absurdly overpowered 571 cubic inch supercharged Hemi that could produce 1000 horsepower. She was also the first monster truck to be driven by women, with the honors being done by both Marilyn Chandler and Janice Oliver. She would go on to make her public debut at the S.C.O.R.E. off-road show in Anaheim in May and make her stadium debut on the Fourth of July at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego.

Over the summer and fall the usual order of chaos and life on the road persisted with the usual bevy of displays, car crushes, sled pulls, mud runs and whatever else the trucks could be gotten into. In August, BIGFOOT 1 and a duel wheeled Ms. BIGFOOT appeared at the Gravelrama event in Cleves, Ohio. Bob would take both Mr. and Ms. BIGFOOT up the Big Eliminator, but to no avail. However, Bob did manage to get BIGFOOT 1 onto one wheel during an attempt.

The Chandlers and Company had now been at this for 10 years. Once considered by Bob and Marilyn as a possible flash in the pan, the popularity of BIGFOOT, and monster trucks as a whole, didn’t seem to be fizzling out any time soon. In fact, just the opposite. Demand for BIGFOOT continued to increase as the budding “Monster Truck Industry” did as well. Monsters were springing up all over the country driving forward the technology and possibilities. There was even someone new being sighted at Midwest during the winter of 1985, a vehicle that would be the first in those parts to stray from the Monster “Truck” concept..

**For this one we decided to do some video instead of stills to retro-celebrate the 10th anniversary!**

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OSMT's BIGFOOT - 50 Years in 50 Days: 1985

In honor of the BIGFOOT team's First Ten Years being marked in 1985, we thought we'd throw together a fun little montage of some of our favorite 1985 clips we had sitting handy.

From the ability to place 4 trucks in 4 different markets on any given date, the team found themselves quite literally as busy as they had ever been. The realtively new BIGFOOT #4 with expert wheelman Jim Kramer behind the wheel had became, if not the darling of the fleet, than certainly the powerhouse star and primary workhorse.

The "darling" of the fleet, if one was to be had, surely must have been yet ANOTHER new truck, the obscenely powerful-yet-compact "Ms. BIGFOOT". Dashing good looks came via a bespoke powder blue livery decorated by the ever-talented Dan Patterson, while power was provided by an offensively-overpowered all-aluminum 571ci Alan Root Ford Hemi. Interestingly, the team went with 48" Goodyear tires for this unit, harkening back to the early 80's tire choice commonly seen before car crushing really took off. Narrowed 5-ton Rockwell axles with stock hubs allowed the truck to squeeze into its trailer without changing tires, a huge perk for whomever hauled it around. Ms. BIGFOOT would be among the team's very last trucks to be built using an OEM frame under the bodywork (albeit wildly modified).

BF4 would notably make performances as part of a residency at Universal Studios' A-Team feature in Universal's Back Lot Tour, as well as multiple performances at Six Flags over St. Louis. Ever the adaptable beast of burden, BF4 would also be tasked with performing on BOTH 66" standard tires AND 10' Tundra tires at many USHRA events, tackling sled pulls, car crushes, and even mud pits all in one night. Imagine changing those between segments in front of a live studio audience?!

All of this plus racing a paddleboat down a river, nearly scaling (and rolling back down) The Big Eliminator at Gravelrama and untold numbers of "normal" shows definitely proved BIGFOOT was no "Flash In The Pan"...

Click above image to watch the video on Instagram