Bigfoot 1

Bigfoot 1 is a Ford monster truck that was built and driven by Bob Chandler. It started as Chandler's personal stock 1974 Ford F-250 4x4, but it was extensively modified and upgraded over the next few years as Chandler began off-road racing with the truck, which he opened his own shop to support. In 1979, the axles were replaced with ones from a military truck, allowing the truck to take 48-inch tires and giving it four-wheel steering, creating the category of monster trucks. That year, the front end was updated to a 1979 as Chandler's assistant, Jim Kramer thought using the more recent look would appeal to Ford while searching for a sponsorship.

The truck is thought to be the first truck to crush cars (although there are claims that Jeff Dane in King Kong was actually first, as well as Cyclops, High Roller/Thunder Beast, and several Super Pro Class mud bog trucks that became monster trucks). It is an undisputable fact that Bigfoot was the first monster truck to appear on film, appearing in Take This Job and Shove It, along with the truck that would become USA-1. It was the first monster truck to have a toy made (through Playskool). It famously performed a car crush in front of over 72,000 people in the Pontiac Silverdome in 1982, leading to so many requests for appearances by the truck that Bigfoot 2 was built to keep up with demand, which also used repaired parts of Bigfoot 1 to build, primarily the frame. Bigfoot 4X4 still has the truck to this day, solely for display purposes.

The truck had severe body damage after it was stuck in a mud hole, Little Bear Foot and a logging crane were used to pull it out but due to the position of the truck in the mud it pulled the tires into the fenders and cab and needed replacement. Photos of it freshly repaired and repainted a brighter blue without lettering doing a car crush can be found online and Instagram. This is why the cab sat for many years a top the shelves at the Bigfoot shop until it was included in the sale of the plow truck to Eli Mann.

Despite being well cared for, currently the paint is in a state of fading and rusting. There is a dent on the front hood where the crane from the trailer caused damage, and has not been repaired. Some from the team have stated that this is due to not wanting to replace it to keep it as original as possible, while others stated that Bob Chandler does not want anyone touching Dan Patterson's paint work since he has passed away.

The 640 CID engine used in the truck in the late 1980s was restored and remounted to the truck as part of a series of television episodes. It was then taken out due to the rarity of the parts needed if damage was to occur. A retro body based off the truck has been used by some of the newer Bigfoot trucks, including on the Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live tour.

In 2025, Terry Woodcock acquired Bigfoot 2 and it was taken apart to use the frame to build a true all original Bigfoot 1, 2 was built using 1’s original frame. Bigfoot 1’s original cab, non planetary axles, and various other original parts were used. Thus now meaning there are two Bigfoot 1’s, with some referring to the “restored” Bigfoot 1 as 1A or Bigfoot Zero, though Terry Woodcock and others suggest calling it "Bigfoot".

Bigfoot 1

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