King Kong was a 1975 Ford F-150 monster truck owned by Jeff Dane. The truck had 5 ton axles under it since 1977 and did its first car show in 1979 with no name on it in Waco, Texas. At that time, this was Jeff Dane's daily driver. It's one of the earliest, if not the first diesel powered monster truck. Also disputed to be not just the first monster truck, but the first to crush cars. Jeff Dane and King Kong did car crushes and back to back pulls at Great Lakes Dragway in Wisconsin from 1980 to 1982.
History[]
The original truck was a mid-70's Ford, bought from Texas. The stock frame was beefed up over a few years, then swapped for a straight rail frame. It was known for its incredible pulling power, doing tug of wars with other early monster trucks, pulling fully loaded sleds, and even a large John Deere tractor.
The trailer King Kong was on tipped over and the truck fell off on a sharp corner in New Mexico on the way to an event. King Kong completed that show damaged. No other vehicles were involved. Upon returning back to Texas, the diesel motor was pulled replaced with a gas motor and a newer Ford body was installed to build King Kong III.
King Kong III would go through many variations, swapping between the orange/red and yellow paint job many times in the TNT series.
1990[]
Due to the rule changes, King Kong III was brought out in place of Awesome Kong to finish out the 1990 season, being surprisingly competitive at outdoor events. Steve Cain made it famous for its crash in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina in a race against Carolina Crusher in 1990.
2011[]
Jeff Dane was among the first group inducted into the International Monster Truck Hall of Fame.
2014[]
A replica of the original truck was built by Dane and currently sits in the Hall of Fame.
Controversy[]
On May 18th, 2024, the International Monster Truck Hall of Fame commissioned Brandon Overmyer to run King Kong® with a throwback to the original blue design promote the Hall of Fame. In response, Dane sent a cease and desist on the grounds that they were only allowed to display the replica, but not outside of that.
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