Something big is happening in the UK. Something very big. Tucked away in a factory unit, at the quiet end of an industrial estate in Daventry, Nigel Morris, owner of L.A. Supertrux has come over all Dr Frankenstein and has started to build himself an army of monsters. We just had to take a look.
By day, LA Supertrux build and prepare pickup trucks and 4x4s to specifications usually reserved for the wide-tracked US - huge trucks with huge tyres, huge suspension... huge everything. A look through the company's catalogue gives some clues with tyres available up to 37 inches high. As an example, a customer pickup truck sat in the centre of the workshop jacked up on tyres to a height which put the sides of the pickup bed well above eye-level. This truck had been used daily by its owner in London, obviously keen to out-do everyone else.
One thing invariably led to another and in 1999, L.A. Supertrux created its first monster truck. Originally conceived as a 50" tyred, two-thirds scale truck for a proposed race series, Wild Child was soon wearing the 66" Goodyear rubber that defined it as a true breed monster. Nigel's access to key component suppliers and contact with truck-builders in the US, allowed him to select his components right first time and Wild Child was the perfect mix of American know-how and British design and manufacturing skills.
Visiting the US for a meeting of the Monster Truck Racing Association, Nigel was involved in the formation of the European division, the MTRAE of which he was unanimously voted in as president. He was also approached by Bob Chandler, the man who started it all with the original monster truck, Bigfoot. For some time, there had been talk of having a Bigfoot truck based permanently in Europe, but it had never been financially viable to move any of the existing fleet from its home, long-term. Nigel was the perfect person to take on the legendary name so was asked by Chandler to build a new truck, to become Bigfoot #17, for the UK.
When we arrived at Supertrux, Bigfoot 17 had recently been out on its maiden appearance and despite some initial transmission damage was in good shape. After a warm welcome, its justifiably proud owner was more than eager to show it off. It was uncovered, sitting in the corner of the workshop overlooking a mountain of the enormous 66" tyres specified by Pro Monster Truck regulations, but wearing smaller wheels for ease of storage. This brought it lower to the ground and gave us an unobstructed view of the suspension and powertrain within its tubular spaceframe. A masterpiece of polished metal and custom made touches such as the triangular fluid reservoir fitted to a triangular section of the frame. Other trucks have simple rectangular reservoirs and it would have been all too easy to use the same, but for its owner, that wasn't good enough.
Nigel Morris has an enthusiasm about every component on the trucks which instantly lets you know that nothing less than the very best would do. This is his baby. A labour of love into which he's put as much time, money and effort as he could muster, and which, it's clear, pays him back in satisfaction every time he looks at it. Nigel, a winner on scrapheap challenge no less, is a man with a serious passion for engineering and the beautifully prepared Bigfoot 17 is a testament to that.
Unlike its American counterparts which use the huge Ford F350 body as their basis, Bigfoot 17 is based on the F150 - a smaller, curvier and arguably a much better looking truck. The word "smaller" seems a little out of place here however. Despite sitting on smaller wheels when we visited, the wheel arches were lowered only to around head height. Make no mistake, the "monster" name is no exaggeration - with its "big" 66" Firestone tyres, Bigfoot stands 11 feet tall, 12 feet wide, and well over 18 feet long.
Surprisingly, visibility isn't benefited at all by the stellar proportions. Entry to the drivers seat is up a spaceframe and suspension climbing frame and once settled in the centre mounted racing seat, you begin to see the problem. The perspex windscreen and open side windows give you a view of sky and maybe the distant horizon. Perspex panels around the inside of the cab give you a good view of the tyres and whatever you're driving over, from about the time you hit it. Add to this the fact that many events are floodlit at night, the driver, with no lighting on the truck is at the mercy of the event organisers to ensure their visibility.
Nigel told us of his one and only night-time car crush in Wild Child. Under less-than-satisfactory lighting he could see only the front of the cars he was intending to hit and nothing of the other cars in the row or the area beyond in which he was to land. With safety marshals and radio contact his only guide, it was to be something of a challenge hitting cars blind, at nearly motorway speeds in a truck weighing 5000kg. "It was less fun that I thought it would be", he cheerfully confirmed.
Getting that weight moving takes some serious kit and Bigfoot 17's engine, like all Bigfoots before it comes from Ford. In this case it's a 514 cubic inch (8.4 litre) V8 racing engine. Running on methanol and with its supercharger under-running in a state of tune described as "reliable", the huge powerplant puts out 1500bhp, with the potential of 1700-1800bhp. With its current gearing, Bigfoot tops out at 65mph (80mph with revised ratios), but that power means that the sprint from standstill to 60mph takes a mere 4.6 seconds. That's on a par with a Ferrari 360 and faster than most Porsche 911s. That pace doesn't come cheap however. Once you've forked out almost $40,000 for your engine you'll be hit hard by the running costs. At full throttle a gallon of methanol will shift Bigfoot only 56 yards - an oddly impressive 31 gallons per mile.
Currently, weekly duties include arena displays with car crushes as well as static displays, but with all that power on tap, Bigfoot was born to race. While the head-to-head events in America regularly play host to dozens of Pro Monster Trucks, the UK is yet to reach close to these figures, so expecting a wait of a few years before all-out head to head action, we turned to Nigel for his prediction of a first race date... "August". This is where the MTRAE comes in. There are trucks in the UK and their owners now have an organisation which has given them the standard to which their trucks should be built and a date to be ready. Their president is optimistic that the trucks will be there, and has spoken to numerous people interested in joining in the fun. One wealthy gent currently racing historic Grand Prix cars saw what Supertrux had created and will shortly be acquiring one for himself.
And what for the future for Nigel and Supertrux? Wild Child will soon be having a new body to bring it up to the high standards of Bigfoot. Next to it in the workshop sat a third truck bought in and under re-preparation with a fourth on its way. "I'm not stopping until I've got six", Nigel informed us happily. The potential for a complete in-house championship is in the making and as interest grows, so too does the MTRAE's driver-member list.
Nigel's aim of a UK race series is gathering momentum and it's going to happen, even if he has to do it all himself. He's a man who knows what he wants and is going to let nothing stand in his way. And if it all goes wrong? "I've got two monster trucks - that's enough even for my ego!", he laughs. These are trucks that demand attention and he certainly got ours. We'll be there to cover the rise of this fantastic branch of motorsport all the way. ProMT events are coming to the UK and with Bigfoot as the UK's figurehead truck, the ever-friendly, contented Mr Morris deserves every success. Expect to see a lot more of him and his trucks very soon.
