Image Credit: Flickr – leigh-east-photoman

With Bournemouth Wheels Festival 2015 just around the corner, we thought we’d give you a little bit more insight into one of last year’s most popular attractions: The Monster Trucks!

Last year people flocked to see the huge, hulking machine crush cars and perform crazy stunts. People were also able to go for monster truck rides, which proved extremely popular; people queued for huge amounts of time for a ride. Last year there was just one monster truck, this year there is four! That’s right, four monster trucks will be blasting over the beaches of Bournemouth seafront!

We’ve created a little profile for each of the trucks so that you can get an idea of what each one is all about and even find out the stories behind them. Also we’ve thrown in a few pictures because everyone loves to look at monster trucks!

Slingshot

Image Credit: Flickr – John5199

Body: Chevy Colorado
Engine: Chevrolet 528 (1800 Horsepower)
Fuel: Methanol
Height: 12 Feet
Width: 12.5 Feet
Weight: 5 Tonnes

Slingshot was owned by Karl Swallow, who sadly passed away in 2012. Happily though, the team behind Slingshot kept going and now Karl’s nephew, Alan Vaughan, drives the machine.

Image Credit: Flickr – Phil Guest

Karl really started his monster truck career in 2003 when he made the move from street legal modified trucks to the huge machine that slingshot is. Karl and Slingshot got their first real appearance at the Pro-MT Race Event at The Hop Farm in Kent in 2004 and after that it was only onwards and upwards!

Here’s an interesting fact for you, Slingshot gets 54 yards to the gallon. Think about that next time you worry about the kind of fuel efficiency you get from your car!

Big Pete

Image Credit: Flickr – Funkypancake

Body: Peterbilt 359 Bonnet & Cab
Engine: 454 Chevrolet V8
Fuel: Methanol
Height: 15 Feet
Width: 13 Feet
Weight: 7.5 Tonnes

Big Pete isn’t a lone ranger in the monster truck world, it is part of Big Pete Ltd which is a monster truck team. Grim Reaper is the other team member on the Big Pete Ltd team, so you will get to see the pair of them together at this year’s Wheels Festival!

Image Credit: Flickr – Lofter

Big Pete is Europe’s biggest monster truck so you don’t want to miss out on seeing this one! Big Pete is a unique machine. It really does look like a genuine American Big Rig, which makes it even more amazing when you see it jumping 15 ft in to the air!

Grim Reaper

Image Credit: Flickr – Chris.bill

Specs
Body: 1999 Chevrolet Pick Up Replica
Engine: Chevrolet V8
Fuel: Methanol
Height: 12 Feet
Width: 12 Feet
Weight: 4.5 Tonnes

Grim Reaper is the ‘little’ brother of Big Pete. We say little, it really isn’t little at all. It’s just not as enormous as Big Pete. However, at around three tonnes lighter than Big Pete, it’s a bit more agile so expect some great stunts.

Swamp Thing

Image Credit: Flickr – Ben Robinson

Body: 2004 Ford F350 Super Duty
Engine: 540 Cubic Inch Tall Block, BDS Supercharger by RND Engineering
Fuel: Methanol
Height: 11ft 6”
Width: 12ft 6”
Weight: 5 Tonnes

Swamp Thing has actually gone by other names in the past. Originally built in America and called Dragon Slayer, it was part of the American monster truck scene for years before it was refurbished and became Captain Insano! After being shipped off to the UK it went through about transitional period before it reappeared as Swamp Thing, with it’s distinctive body work. The front grill looks like a very menacing set of teeth!

There is a lot to look forward to at Wheels Festival this year; this is just one small part of it. For details on what you can see and where you can see it, visit the Wheels Festival page on our website.

Although we won’t have any monster trucks at our stand, we will have plenty of other things going on. We’ve got games and competitions with some great prizes on offer from Autoglym, Wish.co.uk, Monkey World and Farmer Palmers. If you have been thinking about car finance but just wanted to talk to someone about it then we are going to be there all weekend. We’ve even created a booking tool, just in case you feel like being extra organised you can book a guaranteed time slot to see one of our expert advisors. Just head to our Wheels Festival page and scroll to the bottom!

Want to know more Wheels Festival news? Check out the last countdown to Wheels!

Has the Dakar Demonstration area caught your eye? Well you might find James’s ‘Beginners Guide to The Dakar Rally‘ quite interesting.