The Tony Fox "Proud American" and "Bonneville Boss" Rocket Truck
The Proud American and Bonneville Boss - Click above for high-res image gallery
Before our favorite weekly Southern California car gathering this Saturday, we had been told by a friend that he'd be bringing his new rocket truck. Rocket truck? What the heck's a rocket truck? Visions of rocket-powered pickups and semis running the quarter mile immediately came to mind. Did some drag racer sell Tom his race truck? Is that what he was bringing to the show?
As soon as we came around the corner we knew he hadn't. We knew this with absolute certainty because we saw a giant nosecone towering above the treeline. There was, in fact, a rocket-powered land speed record (LSR) car positioned at a launch-worthy angle atop a most amazing truck. Rocket, truck... Rocket truck. Makes sense now. But what was this thing and where did it come from? You can read the whole wacky story after the jump.
Photos copyright ©2009 Frank Filipponio/Weblogs, Inc.
Dubbed the "Proud American," the LSR car is actually a mock-up built in the early '70s by inventor, businessman and speed freak, Tony Fox, and rocket specialist, Ky Michaelson. The finished car was intended to challenge the land speed record in our bicentennial year of 1976. The goal was to break the speed of sound.
Hauled by the Dean Moon-designed "Bonneville Boss" transporter, the display vehicle was put on tour to raise funds for the effort. Sadly, the project never came to fruition, but the transporter and rocket car mock-up survived. After sitting in storage for some 30 years, they were recently sold off and ended up right here in SoCal in the hands of our friend, Tom Shaughnessy. Lucky us.
Up close, the "Proud American" is a giant bicentennial tribute on wheels. You half expect Evel Knievel to pop out of it. Actually, with it lifted into the raised position like it was, it reminded us of a circus canon, ready to fire some daredevil into an airbag or safety net across the parking lot. It'adorned with an American flag motif as well as the names of each of the 50 states and the autographs of Tony and The Rocketman, a.k.a. Ky. As cool as the LSR car is though, the transporter is even more amazing.
The 5-axle truck looks like a lunar RV from a '60s sci-i movie. It seefms to be 1,000 feet long, but the cab is surprisingly low. It seats three with the driver taking the rearmost central position in the denim-and-vinyl-lined cockpit. The gauges are the same Stewart Warners you might find in a Lamborghini Countach. There's also a (cracked) sunroof, and it has sidepipes. What else can we say?
Power comes from an Olds Toronado drivetrain routed through the front four wheels. The double front axles also do the steering. Yep, this puppy is fwd, 4WD, 4WS and OMFG. The six rear wheels support the weight of the rocket car while the front four wheels do all the work. Take a look at the profile and you'll see that this Bonneville Boss brings new meaning to the term "cab forward" as well. We're told you get used to it fairly quickly, but there's an odd lag between the time you see a bump coming and the actual impact.
Tom and co-owner Terry Healy picked it up recently for a price we expect was a lot lower than the initial build cost of $225,000. At the time, that made it the most expensive truck ever built, according to aMay 1976 Popular Science article. We're not sure what this duo plans to do with it, but based on the crowd it drew at Cars & Coffee, we'd say the Bonneville Boss could still be an effective publicity vehicle even now.
We hope to bring you more about this novel bit of motoring nostalgia in the future, but for right now, we just have some more pics in the gallery for you to enjoy.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Swede 7:07PM (11/08/2009)
That transporter is so cool it's off the charts on my cool-o-meter!
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Tony 7:24PM (11/08/2009)
Is there any way of spiking kjsdkjfsdkj's computer. I bet there isn't a hacker alive that could fry his/her computer and transfer all their money into my account. I hope this reverse psychology stuff works.
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stecki 8:03PM (11/08/2009)
America! F*ck Yeah! Comin' to save the mother f*ckin' daaaayyyAAAAA!!!!
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shrique 8:26PM (11/08/2009)
I always wondered what that thing was. It sat on a small used car lot in Long Lake MN for a number of years back in the 80's. I think the owner just bought it to have a "draw" for the lot. I didn't know anything about it but I always thought it was a mock-up or something as the nozzles didn't look functional.
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HotRodzNKustoms 9:14PM (11/08/2009)
Wow!!! I'm sad I did not go!!! Sadly I had to catch a flight later in the morning!!! Truly a once in a lifetime set up! Hopefully they will be Cars and Coffee regulars with that amazing rolling art!
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BoxerFanatic 9:56PM (11/08/2009)
So many lines come to mind....
"Ground Control to Major Tom... Take your protein pills and put your helmet on."
"Here I am sitting in a tin can, high above the world..."
"Strung out in Heaven's high, hitting an all-time low."
"Though Im past one hundred thousand miles, Im feeling very still, And I think my spaceship knows which way to go..." It had better, there is no steering. :D
"They got a message from the action man, 'Im happy, hope youre happy too...'"
"My mother said to get things done, Youd better not mess with Major Tom" ...somebody messed with Major Tom on this one...
"4, 3, 2, 1
Earth Below Us
Drifting, Falling
Floating Weightless
Calling, Calling Home"
Lyrics used without permission, not for profit, of course.
This thing looks like a scud launcher dressed for a parade. You'd almost have to be strung out like Major Tom to get in that thing, the truck, or the record car.
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epilonious 8:22AM (11/09/2009)
And I think it's gonna be a long long time
Till touch down brings me 'round again to find
I'm not the truck they think I am at home
Oh no, no, no, I'm a rocket truck
Rocket truck burning out it's fuse up here alone
Kaveh 10:22PM (11/08/2009)
Thats so cool, the truck looks like a toy from the 70's, I want it.
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Thunderbuck 11:27AM (11/09/2009)
I'm pretty sure there was either a toy, or a scale model version of this. Or both.
JayP 10:40PM (11/08/2009)
The 6 year old in me says "GIMME!".
This is 10 ways of awesome.
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Mr Clickerson 11:55PM (11/08/2009)
Awesome truck... But the fact that it's front wheel drive is disappointing. :(
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Shiftright 2:41AM (11/09/2009)
WHAT?!!! That's what make sit so amazing! It's FWD,4 wheel drive, 4 wheel steering and mid engined!
Fooman 1:57AM (11/09/2009)
I took my new Girl Friend to her first C&C and she was floored by this. I will admit I was too. Hell this took the weekend, even with a REAL TUCKER in attendance (and my fav a real Alpina 2002) or the immaculate 1955 Deutsch-Bonnet, yeah google that one!
This was easily the most epic win ever to show there. We get Veyrons, Enzo's f40/f50 and all other modern F cars, more P cars then you can shake a stick at (mostly M guys shakign the stick though.) Hell a real D type even shows up, as well as Mr Shaughnessy old but amazing F cars. This is not to mention the flawless 60-80's BMW's from Hartage and Alpina.
The truck was amazing, in the level of detail and work put into it, I liked the "Bonneville Boss" logos made from Pontiac and ford badge plates, it actually worked as well as the center seat arrangement in the cab.
Why did Tom S buy this? Simple to forever win the most epic car to come to C&C ever.
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HotRodzNKustoms 2:59AM (11/09/2009)
How the hell did you get your girlfriend to go to Cars and Coffee??? That's all I want to know! She is a keeper!
iolithblue 4:01AM (11/09/2009)
not the first cab forward transporter..
http://www.seriouswheels.com/1950-1959/1954-Mercedes-Benz-Blue-Wonder-Transporter-SA-1280x960.htm
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mk15 7:47AM (11/09/2009)
*hums the Thunderbirds theme*
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652059 8:55AM (11/09/2009)
I'm pretty sure I had this as a Hot Wheels or Matchbox toy back in the late 80s... It looks so familiar for some reason. Very cool!
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bauhaus 9:43AM (11/09/2009)
Matchbox - I had the same one, so I had exactly the same thought. It was one of those large-size Matchboxes, too, and it came with a plane that sat on the cradle at the back. You took the plane off the cradle, snapped the wings on, and off you went.
Thunderbuck 11:38AM (11/09/2009)
"Yep, this puppy is fwd, 4WD, 4WS and OMFG."
Epic!
There's such a 70s-cool vibe to this, and the truck is beautifully executed. I've seen this before--likely read that original Pop-Sci article, since I was hooked on those back then--but I never noticed details like the vinyl roof and the opera windows(!)
That Toronado drivetrain found a lot of interesting uses. The GMC Motorhome still enjoys something of a cult following...
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MaxN 1:38PM (11/09/2009)
Nice pics Frank,
When word went around that Tom was bringing something that would eclipse anything previously driven in and that this was American made I really did start to wonder.
When the instruction 'bring a wide angle' was given I was truly clueless.
Once more Cars and Coffee delivers in a way that nobody can second guess.
To me though the star of the day was probably this
http://cncpics.com/v/200911/091107/cnc091107+061.JPG.html
:)
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