the story about parnelli jones and the Big Ole' Bronco...

bajaherbie · Post by **bajaherbie** » Sun Jun 08, 2008 6:38 pm

here is a good read about the first "funny car" of off-road racing...

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl= ... n%26sa%3DG

Post by **david58** » Sun Jun 08, 2008 7:22 pm

And here I always thought you had the funniest off road car.

HerBet.

Joxracing · Post by **Joxracing** » Sun Jun 08, 2008 8:01 pm

Thats wayy cool. Man i wish i had me one of those

petew · Post by **petew** » Mon Jun 09, 2008 5:43 pm

http://www.bajabronco.com/BigOly.shtml

great write up. I didn't realise it was the early equivalent of a trophy truck. Full moly tube frame and all. Amazing stuff.

bajaherbie · Post by **bajaherbie** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 3:18 pm

couple of photos i found on al gores interweb. the first one is really cool with all of the racers parked next to each other... 4 broncos, a baja or two, a bunch of rails and a couple dirt bikes.

the second image is of rod hall and jim fricker. this bronco is the third one in the above picture but with a different number. rod hall now races hummers i believe...

Post by **Hedrock** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 4:08 pm

Glad to see you are spending your time more constructive Herbie

59Bisquik · Post by **59Bisquik** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 4:18 pm

Wow! Pretty interesting article!

ntsqd · Post by **ntsqd** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 5:12 pm

I thought that's where the link would lead me. My friend Todd Z wrote the story. Somewhere he has a less than flattering shot of me crawling under Big Ole when it was on display at the NHRA Museum during one of the Off Road Expo's.

Very ahead of it's time. It lacks today's wheel travel for a variety of reasons, but it could have today's wheel travel with some mods and you would be hard pressed to tell when it was built.

There was a guy working on building a copy that would have all of the modern tech built into it. I've not heard anything about that project for several years. It's likely dead.
Dig a little further and find the story of the "Trailer Bronco." That one is a classic.

Sneaks · Post by **Sneaks** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 5:40 pm

It was featured in the first 'Gone in 60 Seconds' too.

bajaherbie · Post by **bajaherbie** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 7:19 pm

the second bronco in the first pic was driven by larry minor.... he went on to own a nhra drag team, a TF and a flopper. the cars were sponsored by mcdonalds... larry minor was/is the largest potatoe farmer in the u.s. and mcdonalds is the largest buyer of potatoes....

rte592 · Post by **rte592** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 8:47 pm

Wasn't that bronco stolen 20+ years ago and never recovered?

fusername · Post by **fusername** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 9:14 pm

i dont htink so. I coulda sworn it was still goin strong. read a bit about it in a 4x4 mag. been getting those ever since I bought the tires for my bus.

Mattt · Post by **Mattt** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 12:32 am

Nope....Big Oly is still around....the owner's name escapes me right now, but it is someone note worthy. The "Trailer Bronco" that ntsqd mentioned is currently for sale. It's listed on Race Dezert.....$42k. Awesome story, and a real nice piece of racing history.

ntsqd · Post by **ntsqd** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 6:46 am

PJ has owned Big Oly from the very beginning. Heck of a nice guy to talk to, too.

Sneaks · Post by **Sneaks** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 8:13 am

I think the urban legend about it being stolen actually started because of the original Gone in 60 Seconds movie, where it was stolen and packed up to be shipped overseas.