SEMA 2009: Bigfoot still a crowd favorite, 35 years later
Bigfoot #1 – Click above for high-res image gallery
We distinctly remember 3rd grade. Specifically, sitting in the library once a month during recess. Why would we give up dodgeball and four-square to sit inside and read? Because the new issues of Off Road and 4Wheeler had just dropped and they had stories about Bigfoot! Bearfoot too, and Carzilla – but mostly Bigfoot! Happy days, happy days. And here at this year's SEMA Show, both the original 1975 Bigfoot #1 (the world's first monster truck) and the new-for-2009 Bigfoot (#12 of fifteen Bigfoots) showed up to terrorize the Las Vegas Convention Center's parking lot.
Well, not terrorize – because people love the Bigfoots (Bigfeets?) so very much. But lordy, are these some hella intimidating trucks, even all these years later. Perhaps most notable is that the new Bigfoot is actually a 2008 Ford F-250 body cut to look like a 1979 F-250. Also cool is the 35-year gulf in technology between the two beasts. We could have spent a couple hours standing underneath (no, really!) Bigfoot #12 just admiring the headers. And the gas bypass shocks. And the supercharger, etc. Sadly, the duo of Bigfoots won't be crushing any cars this week. Let's make that double sadly, as this year's SEMA show features many deserving candidates. For more (and better) details, check out pickuptrucks.com's Bigfoot post.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Craig 1:54PM (11/05/2009)
Love the retro new one. I hate how they've all become caricatures of themselves.
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83gtragtop 1:54PM (11/05/2009)
Crazy, are the brakes linked to the driveshaft?
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Phillip 2:22PM (11/05/2009)
Yup, due to gear reduction you get it's easier to stop the oversized tires from the drive shaft. Rockwells (axles on the old school BF) have had this for a long while. Not sure what axles are used on the modern ones though, but same theory.
Zed1K 5:54PM (11/05/2009)
The new trucks use ZF axles.
NorCalAngler 2:12PM (11/05/2009)
I stopped reading after you used the word hella. Unless that was a play on the fact you were rewinding to your time in elementary school and it was just a stretch reference.
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skablaw 2:52PM (11/05/2009)
Amen. I know this isn't VocabularyBlog, but can we at least keep our heads above the 6th-grade reading level?
Jonny Lieberman 3:11PM (11/05/2009)
As a Northern Californian you should hella embrace the use of the word hella. I'm actually a fan of "Using the word Hella" on Facebook.
So, for the record, hella.
f x core 3:34PM (11/05/2009)
Yeah, reading that made me throw up in my mouth a little bit. I'm from socal and go to school in norcal and I hear it enough on a daily basis. I'm not really interested in reading it in the blogs that I regularly visit. I'd tolerate it a little more/maybe even use it myself if the word was actually cooler sounding than "hella."
rygar 2:41PM (11/05/2009)
I remember how HUGE I thought the original Bigfoot was when I first saw it. Now looking at it again all these years later, it looks small compared to some of the monstrosities I see driving around now. Some guy down the street from me drives some early 80's Blazer that makes the OG Bigfoot look like a Tacoma. I think he stole the axles from some surplus military transporter. Not to mention all the lifted Quad-Cab Duallies and jacked up Excursions I see on the roads!
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anthro101 3:34PM (11/05/2009)
Pretty cool...but it doesn't say anywhere that the body was cut up to look like the old school one. They just say they used a chassis from a 2008 truck to create the retro one. For one, cutting up an existing body shell to look like a 70's truck would be nearly impossible, two I don't think you can do it in 5 weeks and three it's impractical.
So the use of "hella" and poor reading comprehension = fail
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John 4:09PM (11/05/2009)
The "new" Bigfoot used to have an '06 Super Duty body on top. It's a show truck, with non-racing axles. "12 of 15" debuted in '93.
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John 4:11PM (11/05/2009)
Oh, and quit sounding so elitist re: grammar. It's hella stupid. Sure, maybe the author's use of the word appeared to be a bit out of place, but to actually waste your time complaining about it? Get a jarb.
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Venom 4:30PM (11/05/2009)
I love Big Foot.
Ahhh, childhood memories.
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Tim 6:24PM (11/05/2009)
I know this is gonna be picky, but there's 16 total Bigfoot trucks, many of which have been sold due to age and one has been confiscated by customs in Brazil. I love monster trucks, thanks for the post Autoblog, I, as a fan, appreciate it a lot.
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fmwso 6:31PM (11/05/2009)
This is definitely bad ass and I like it.
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