Dennis Anderson, Randy
Brown, Charlie Pauken, Chad Tingler, Gary Porter, Carl Van Horn, Pablo
Huffaker, Jon Zimmer
Style
1951 Chevy Panel truck
Engine
540 CI
Merlin, 1500HP
Transmission
Coan 2-Speed
Tires
66" Terra Tires
Home city
Kill Devil Hills, NC
Year created
1981
Classic footage
of a race between Grave Digger and Kodiak in 1992 at the Louisville
Motor Speedway figure-8 course.
It was in this race that Dennis Anderson broke several ribs that
caused him recurring problems throughout his career.
Back in 1981 a man called Dennis Anderson, decided he wanted to enter an upcoming mud-bog contest in his home town. Using parts of old vehicles from
scrap yards, he used a corroded chassis of a 1951 Ford pickup,& a Chevy engine, he built himself his own mud-bogger. When other competitors found out what he was doing, they laughed in his face, and told him that their new big expensive trucks would run him into the ground. Dennis responded by telling his opponents: "I'll take this old junk, & dig your grave" he subsequently won the contest. The Grave Digger was born.
He continued mud-bogging on the mud-bogging circuit for a couple of years. As he became more serious, he changed parts on his truck to make sure his truck stayed in the winning circle. He changed the body style to what would be the standard body of all his later trucks, it was a 1951 Ford panel van. He also put a Chevy big-block engine located in the back of the truck. Then one day at an event in 1984, the monster truck which was supposed to be appearing to crush some cars, failed to turn up. Dennis went to the promoters & offered to do the job. He crushed the cars & the crowd went wild. Dennis " The Wild Man" Anderson had entered the world of monster trucks.
Dennis, with his new found sport decided to build another Grave Digger truck, this time with a stronger chassis, Grave Digger two was born. The Grave Digger truck became a feature attraction at the truck events. In 1985 Dennis made a
appointment with Fred Bumann of Norfolk, Virginia, an artist/auto painter. They discussed the paint job & Dennis told Fred that he didn't like the idea of green flames on a black truck.. Fred told Dennis to leave him alone with the truck for at least 18 hours, & if he didn't like the paint job he'd change it. When Dennis saw the trucks new look he immediately fell in love with it.
After competing in the M.T.R.A. racing circuit with his new paint job his truck became a real crowd
favorite, by the end of 1988. Dennis realized that with his all steel body & heavy suspension, that his truck was
handicapped. With many trucks changing to fiberglass bodies, because of the trend moving from car crushing towards the speed aspect of the sport, Dennis decided he needed a
fiberglass body on his truck. Working closely with a fiberglass company from
Tennessee, they made a light-weight all fiberglass body patterned after a 1950 Chevrolet panel van. With the
legendary paint job, the new breed of Grave Digger trucks where born.
Back in 1981 a man called Dennis Anderson, decided he wanted to enter an
upcoming mud-bog contest in his home town. Using parts of old vehicles from
scrapyards, he used a corroded chassis of a 1951 Ford pickup,& a Chevy
engine, he built himself his own mud-bogger.
Grave
Digger Home Site
Dennis " The Wild Man" Anderson and the world of monster
trucks in the Grave Digger Monster Truck
Grave
Digger at USHRA
The Traxxas T-Maxx™ put together one of its most outstanding performances
of the year last weekend... GRAVE DIGGER GOES FROM VII TO XX 11/08/05. Monster
Jam ...
More
Grave Digger at USHRA
Grave Digger Monster Truck helps Paramount’s Four Brothers Crush the
Competition. Mike Briggs/ USHRA Media. Millions of movie fans were treated to
plenty of action ...more...
More
Grave Digger at USHRA
Grave Digger Monster Truck helps Paramount’s Four Brothers Crush the
Competition. Mike Briggs/ USHRA Media. Millions of movie fans were treated to
plenty of action ...more...
2007 All Breeds Jeep Show, York PA
- Bigger and Better than Ever, the 12th annual All
Breeds Jeep Show in York PA proved to be the
best yet in it's 12 years with an incredible
number of Jeeps, vendors, activities, and action
on the course. Enough to get any Jeep
fanatic's blood pumping.
The show was July 21, 22, 2007 Saturday & Sunday
and took place at the York Expo Center - York, PA.
Scenes from the Event.
Dave Leasure's
Twisted Willys
As we watched this beast crawl up the RTI Ramp, observed the pivot point just behind the cab of the
truck as it worked it's extra flex into a great score for a 118 inch wheelbase
vehicle, we knew we would have to do a page on
this beast.
Northern
Exposure
"Sticks and Stones may break my Jeep but mud is
always funner".
Mountain 4 Wheeling offroad at the peak of the fall
season. A weekend in the northeastern
Appalachian Mountains.
All
Breeds Jeep Show Coverage The 10 Annual PA Jeeps Jeep Show in
York PA is something for the Jeep Fan to See.
A Jeep Exclusive Show-n-Shine, Trail Readiness
Event.
