Question of the Week: What’s Your Favorite Desert Racer?—WINNER’S UPDATE: A Practical Look
WINNER’S ANNOUNCEMENT:
We’re back to announce the winner for our Question of the Week, where our winner will rest on their laurels and accept a $25 credit for a hat or T-shirt from the BaT Gear Store.
This week, we asked: What’s your favorite desert racer?
Thanks to everyone who hucked a nomination into the sandbox! Bill Stroppe’s Baja Bronco and custom-built Bronco dubbed “Big Oly” were mentioned equally this week, so we turned to the thumbs to break the tie. With a cumulative 23 likes as of this writing, the winning nomination is Big Oly! BaT member @Newport_Pagnell was the first to it:
Parnelli Jones had been driving Bill Stroppe-prepped Fords since the mid-1960s, and alongside Stroppe, he made racing history with his tube-frame “Big Oly” Bronco, a racer built to handle Parnelli Jones’s brutish, high-speed driving style.
Congratulations, Newport_Pagnell! Be sure to check your email to claim the prize.
Now, let’s take a look at some other popular nominations from this week’s discussion thread:
“My favorite is the ’69 Baja 1000-winning Stroppe Bronco that my friend @BajaBronco and I found, purchased, restored and raced.
https://bajabronco.com/redracer/
It’s now part of @wescuda’s collection in Colorado.
Second place for me is Big Oly.”
For those interested, check out this edition of “Why We Love Them” on Bill Stroppe’s Baja Broncos contributed by Bronco cognoscente @Todd_Z.
“Steve McQueen.
Because of his Daja Boot built by GM engineer and off-road vehicle specialist Vic Hickey with help from Hurst https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVoo3P3j3JU
And because he’s Steve McQueen!”
“Has to be the Porsche 959 Rally.”
As a matter of fact, the 959 won our Dakar Rally Racer QotW in 2024.
“Paris-Dakar LM002. For the sheer cubic dollars involved.
Although the race-prepped LM002 ultimately didn’t compete in the Paris Dakar Rally, it appeared in Greece in 1988 with Mario Mannucci and co-pilot Sandro Munari.
“The Citroen Sahara twin engine 4×4 2CV!
“Spoken as a Rambler /SC Hurst owner ; James Garner’s Rambler Scrambler !!”
@CKKurtz writes:
I have 2 favorites:
Jim Conner and his Datsun Pickup Baja racers are what come to mind first. Definitely a favorite – I’ve owned a bunch of Datsun pickups over the years, and I had Jim Conner parts from Datsun Comp on board.
Then there’s Datsun’s victory in the 1971 East African Safari Rally. Driven by Edgar Herrmann. 100% Awesomeness. As a kid, that was the raddest racing I’d ever seen.
Fun story: My dad was a Datsun dealer back then. When I was in 4th grade, we studied Africa for a portion of the school year. We learned all about the Sahara and the rainforest, etc. My dad got Datsun’s 16mm film from the Safari Rally to show at his dealership. I asked my teacher if I could bring the film in to show at school. She agreed, and the entire 3rd and 4th grade classes gathered in the library to watch the #11 240z storm to victory through the clouds of dust. My friends and I LOVED IT! I don’t recall what the teachers or other kids thought…
“John McCown and his four legged mechanic Kookie raced a Husqvarna 360 all over Southern California back in the70’s.
https://pistonbrew.blogspot.com/2014/01/you-aint-nothin-but-scrambler-dog.html?m=1“
And we’ll wrap up this week’s discussion with a number of notable mentions from @Mike_2.0:
“Rich Minga’s Class 5 911, Jim Venable’s Hay Hauler (flown by Robby Gordon), Dave Kreisler’s Class 2 Raceco Pick Up, and Scoop Vessels Class 2 Blazer.”
That’s it for this week’s Question of the Week! Thanks to everyone who participated, and congratulations once again to our winner, Newport_Pagnell. We’ll be back with a new question soon.
ORIGINAL POST:
Welcome to the BaT Question of the Week! For those unfamiliar, here are the rules: we ask an automotive-themed question, and the author of our favorite answer from the comments is awarded a $25 credit to the BaT Gear Store.
Back in early 2024, we asked you about your favorite Dakar Rally vehicle, and this week, we’re expanding our reach by asking:
What’s your favorite desert racer?
Often across harsh, barren terrain with very little life above ground, desert racing takes a whole lot of chutzpah and a durable vehicle, to boot. The Cactus Derby was one of the earliest endurance races of its kind, running from Los Angeles to Phoenix during the early 1910s, and races like the SCORE Baja 1000 and Mint 400 are still held today. We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention other worldwide events like Australia’s grueling Finke Desert Race.
The scores of vehicles that have attempted these desolate treks run the whole gamut: motorcycles, cars, trucks, semis, dune buggies, ATVS, and more. So now we pass the wheel over to you:
What’s your favorite desert racer?
Give us your answer it in the comments, and leave a thumbs-up to any nominations that grab your attention. We’ll announce the winner on Monday.
“The king, Big Oly
https://bajabronco.com/bigoly/“
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Newport_Pagnell commented on Question of the Week: What's Your Favorite Desert Racer?—WINNER’S UPDATE