If you didn’t see the latest episode of Stacey David’s GearZ TV show sponsored by E3 Spark Plugs, you missed out! But not to worry. You can still see Episode 5 featuring the legendary Bigfoot online.
Bigfoot's first car crush in 1981.
The show features an interview with Bigfoot creator Bob Chandler, plus archival video of Bigfoot’s first public car crush in April of 1981. Automotive history buffs know that the original Bigfoot was Chandler’s work truck that occasionally doubled as a promotional piece for his 4×4 parts and service company. On a creative – and curious – whim, Chandler decided to roll Bigfoot over a couple of junk cars and see how audiences react. Little did he know back then that he had just created an entertainment empire that would become today’s Monster Truck Nationals.
Chandler tells David how the original Bigfoot morphed from a run-of-the-mill work truck into an automotive icon complete with giant tires and massive military axles on both the front and rear wheels. Because military front and rear military axles are interchangeable, Bigfoot’s development led to the term 4x4x4: Four wheels, four-wheel drive, four-wheel steering.
The show also mentions Bigfoot’s big screen debut on a low budget, B-grade comedy “Take This Job and Shove It,” inspired by the David Allan Coe song of the same name. The 1981 film starring Robert Hays and Barbara Hershey tanked at the box office. But it is credited with nationalizing the monster truck craze. Monster trucks subsequently made appearances in action flicks like “Cannonball Run II,” “Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment,” “Police Academy 6: Under Siege,” “Road House,” “Tango & Cash” and “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle.”
Chandler also recounts his frightening experience in the Pontiac Silverdome in 1983, when Bigfoot made its first major stadium appearance and got bum-rushed by 30,000 wall-jumping fans. David likened the event to the famed 1964 episode of the “Ed Sullivan Show” that ushered Beatlemania into the United States. The Pontiac Silverdome incident marked the official arrival of the monster truck, quickly followed by debuts of other big trucks with now-recognizable names like “Grave Digger” and “Predator.”
If you haven’t seen it yet, click below to see Stacey David’s GearZ TV Bigfoot feature. And just for fun, see Bigfoot’s
And while you’re at it, sign up for a chance to win a ride in Bigfoot and lunch with Chandler and David in the E3 Spark Plugs 2011 BIGFOOT/Stacey David’s GearZ Sweepstakes. Good luck!
Stacey David’s GearZ TV episode featuring Bigfoot.
Bigfoot’s big screen debut in “Take This Job and Shove It.”
