By Brian Lohnes

BangShift.com

Monster trucks. Love them or hate them, they are a part of American culture, and still draw massive crowds to arenas and stadiums all across the land. As young gearheads in the 1980s we were obsessed with these massive trucks.

Back then they had steel bodies, leaf-spring packs large enough to support the weight of a battleship, and lots of chrome. They crushed cars slowly, with their massive weight doing the work of flattening the cars.

Nowadays they are all high-tech, fast, agile, and impressive, but back then they were lumbering beasts that pulled the front wheels up about half a foot when they smashed into the stack of cars. Now they fly over them with ease.

Anyway, this web site is the mother load of monster truck photos spanning the decades form the very beginnings of the phenomenon to today. Even though they are a guilty pleasure of ours, the trucks are impressive feats of engineering.

Ever wonder what happens to those poor junk cars that get run over in piles at the monster truck shows? At least a handful of them end up at Fleury Auto & Truck Parts in Everett, the sad collateral damage of some county-fair spectacle. I ran across these guys yesterday, completely randomly—a whole row of squashed cars, spray-bombed yellow and Rustoleum red. The vans seemed to have escaped the biggest jumps—though check out the gigantic tire track up the side of the Ford—while a bunch of 90′s econoboxes bore the brunt of what clearly an orgy of destruction. I spotted an Escort, a Subaru, a Cavalier wagon, and a Mitsubishi Galant—and the last two I could only identify because their badges had been left on. Well: at least now they won’t have to go in the crusher. More grisly pics after the jump.

Continue reading "The Horror: Monster-Truck Victims In The Junkayrd" »

Beyond hilarious: a pair of NASCAR-themed 1979 Camaro 4×4′s have shown up on eBay. Each of these monster cars boasts a brand-new 355, a set of 37" tires, and a perfect balance of my two most cherished redneck pursuits. Inexplicably, both are holding steady at zero bids with less than a day left on the auction (though it might’ve helped if the seller had spelled either of the drivers’ names right). Check out the Jeff Gordon car here and the Dale Earhardt car here.

Ok, so it’s not four-wheel drive—which is kind of a big deal—but even still, you have to admire the craftsmanship of this monster Beetle. The chassis was designed by an aircraft engineer who wanted to make sure it was absolutely bullet-proof, the paintwork is beautiful, and it’s got some nice little touches—including a fiberglass tilt front end and a trunk in the space formerly known as the engine compartment—that illustrate how much time was spent getting this car right. As an added bonus, the person who took the photos of it has a great eye. Head over to Ange’s Space to check them out.

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

NASCAR Chevrolet driver Clint Bowyer ripped it up in the Chevy "Bounty Hunter" monster truck at Fort Worth on Wednesday—specifically, he ran over a row of dead Fords that looked like they’d been hauled out of the local boneyard for the event. Being a fan of both Bowyer and old Fords, I gotta say it: come on, Clint. There were clearly a lot of usable parts on those LTDs, and that vintage Galaxie obviously shouldn’t even be in the lineup. If you’ve gotta crush something with a monster truck, couldn’t it be—I dunno, a row of Toyotas? Maybe including Tony Stewart’s car? Heh.

Source: Scene Daily

Here’s a monster car that uses parts from everything  but the kitchen sink: it’s a Valiant wagon built on a 4wd Land Rover chassis, powered by a Buick motor run through a GM automatic trans and dual cherrybombs. The dashboard, consisting of ornately hand-carved scenes of frolicking animals, is nearly as bizarre as this ride’s exterior. The rig is built primarily for serious off-road use, and the low gearing makes it rev too high for the freeway. Bid now before it slowly gets away!

Here in Australia, we have ads on TV that remind drivers to be careful when sharing the road with motorbikes. However, an aggressive driver isn’t something that Ray Bauman is ever going to have to worry about. Ray, a former truck driver, is the proud owner of the “Monster Motorbike.” Weighing over 13 tonnes, and with a height of 10 feet and almost 30 feet long, the Monster Bike could literally crush its way through traffic! It’s powered by a Detroit Diesel truck engine linked to a six speed Alison Automatic gear box. Bauman used to do stunt driving, and according to Gizmag, he likes the safety of his new ride. "Now we crush things, which is definitely less risky than jumping them." Let’s hope he’s only talking about monster truck events! Bauman will have his bike on display at the Melbourne Motor Show in March.

I bet there’s few things more impressive in real life than seeing a Mustang-bodied monster truck spinning like a top. It’s all pretty silly, but I bet it would’ve been a gas to be there. Be warned if you’re wearing headphones: the soundtrack on this clip is LOUD.

I know this is super old, but that didn’t stop me from watching it like ten times today. Sure monster trucks are ridiculous, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t cool.