I was seven years old and completely wrapped up in the madness that was the 1980s monster truck scene when this video was made. The funny thing is, the stuff still captivates me today. It takes me right back to the living room rug and sitting too close to the TV either watching the events on TNN or watching one of the million and a half VHS tapes I had back then. My favorite monster truck stuff happened when they were not near cars to crush. I used to (and still do) love to see them mud bogging, drag racing, floating across bodies of water, and in the case of this video, sled pulling. Yes, the stationary wheelie at the end was the big payoff but even as a kid I liked to hear the trucks really get put to work and when they are bouncing over cars you don’t really get the chance to hear the motors dig in really work up a sweat.
Many guys out there my age will likely remember the trucks in this video as clear as day. The Lon Ranger always struck me as little weird because of the lack of wheelbase. The dude hammered the hell out of the thing but it wasn’t really my favorite. I did love the Michigan Ice Monster, the really clean and simple Stroh’s Beer truck, and I had a full on hankering for more Goliath in my life. That twin engine truck blew me away the first time I saw it. In an odd twist (and I forget the year) I actually ran across that machine for sale in the back pages of Petersen’s 4-Wheel and Off Road magazine (remember when they used to run classifieds?!) and it was located in Massachusetts. I of course inquired as to whether my dad thought it was a good idea to possess such a thing and he informed me that he was not interested. It went like this…
Me: Hey Dad, check this out! The Goliath truck is for sale!
Dad: No.
This is a fun piece of time travel by video. Sometimes it’s ok to feel like a seven year old kid on the living room floor again, right? I sure as heck hope so.
