Monster Truck History

In the 1970s, changeded pickup trucks were becoming popular and the sports of mud bogging and truck pulling were gaining in popularity. Some truck owners had created lifted trucks to compete in such events, and soon competition to hold the title of "biggest truck" developed. At the time, the largest tires the trucks were running were 48 inches in diameter.
Sometime in the late 1970s, the Dane brothers began using Awesome Kong to drive over automobiles at county fairs, making Awesome Kong officially the first truck to crush cars in front of an audience. Unaware of this, Chandler drove Bigfoot over a pair of cars in a field as a test of the truck's ability, and filmed it to use as a promotional tool in his four wheel drive performance shop. An event promoter saw the video of the car crush and asked Chandler to do it in front of a crowd. Initially hesitant, Chandler eventually caved in. After some smaller shows, Chandler performed the feat in the Pontiac Silverdome in 1982. At this show, Chandler also debuted a new version of Bigfoot with 66 inch diameter tires. The event was a major success and launched Bigfoot as the first true "monster truck", under the current definition. The term "monster truck" was also coined at this time, reportedly by United States Hot Rod Association founder Bob George.