Parnelli Jones is a legend in the racing world, winning victories at sporting events with vehicles as diverse as the Indianapolis 500 and the Baja 1000 desert race. And now you can own a piece of Ford Bronco history – and Baja – because its iconic “Big Oly” is up for auction.
In fact, Mecum is biddingf the whole Parnelli Jones Collection, which includes six cars from the man’s personal collection. But the bright star is undoubtedly the Big Oly Bronco. This distinctive car took its nickname from its main sponsor, Olympia Beer, and won the Baja 1000 back-to-back in 1971 and 1972. They also took home the Baja 500 from 1973 and the Mint 400 from 1973. Needless to say, I say, this bad boy has origin.
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And let’s look at some specifications:
- Length 154 inches
- 72 inches wide
- 2,620 kilograms dry weight
- Spatial frame for chrome tube
- Fiberglass and aluminum body
- Ford Windsor V-8 engine of 351/390 hp
- Modified Ford C6 B&M hydraulic transmission
- Gold / white / black exterior with livery no. 1
- Fuel capacity of 45 gallons
- It runs on high octane racing fuel
- Extreme shock absorber and suspension movement
- Large custom wing above
- Split windshield to reduce dust in the cabin
- The back end of the coil for better traction
- Firestone White-letter off-road tires
Jones entered off-road racing after losing the Indy 500 with just four laps to go, when his turbine car driven by Andy Granatelli broke down. Co-pilot Bill Stroppe practically dared Jones to say that. “Jones was not man enough for off-road racing. ”
But Jones wasn’t going to lie down, and he wouldn’t take it it’s easy, and Big Oly has been designed to push all possible limits. In addition to the roof, which was practically designed to be a huge wing, there were a lot of other innovations: a split windshield to reduce dust in the cab, integrated Thermos drinking systems for drivers, a fiberglass frame, a backlit device that contains a manual scrolling of maps that functioned as an analog GPS and heavily modified suspension. If one aspect could be changed, it was. And he worked. Off-road has never been the same since then.
One of the coolest things about this car, though, is that it has remained in Jones’ personal collection since he drove it. At the time, it was common for successful cars to be sold and essentially die, but Big Oly was something else. Jones knew that. So he kept it safe, taking it out of the warehouse to occasionally lend it to a museum exhibit.
Due to its clean nature and the historical significance of the Great Oly, Hagerty estimates that it could sell for over a million dollars. It’s hard to imagine going for something less.