Parnelli Jones is a kind of legend in the racing world, with victories in motorsport events as diverse as the Indianapolis 500 and Baja 1000 races in the desert. And now you can have a piece of Ford Bronco’s – and Baja’s history – because their iconic “Big Oly” is being auctioned off.
In fact, Mecum is auctioningwas all Parnelli Jones Collection, which includes six cars from the man’s personal collection. But the star that shines is, without a doubt, Big Oly Bronco. This distinctive machine received the nickname of its main sponsor, Olympia Beer, and won the Baja 1000 consecutively in 1971 and 1972. They also took home the Baja 500 from 1973 and the Mint 400 from 1973. Needless to say, this is bad boy has pedigree.
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And let’s look at some specifications:
- 154 inch length
- 72 inch width
- 2,620 lb dry weight
- Spatial structure of the Moly Chrome tube
- Fiberglass and aluminum bodywork
- Ford Windsor V-8 351/390 HP engine
- Modified Ford C6 B&M hydroelectric transmission
- Gold / white / black exterior with nº 1 paint
- 45 gallon fuel capacity
- Works with high octane fuel
- Extreme shock absorber and suspension stroke
- Large custom wing on top
- Split the windshield to reduce dust in the cab
- Rear end of the spool for better traction
- Firestone White-letter off-road tires
Jones entered off-road racing after losing to the Indy 500 with just four laps to go when his Andy Granatelli turbocharged car broke down. Co-pilot Bill Stroppe basically challenged Jones to do so, saying “Jones was not man enough for off-road racing. “
But Jones would not accept this lying down, nor would he accept easy, and Big Oly was designed to exceed all possible limits. In addition to the roof, which was basically designed to be a huge wing, there were tons of other innovations: a split windshield to reduce cabin dust, built-in thermal drinker systems for drivers, a fiberglass structure, a backlit device containing a manually operated map scroll that functioned like an analog GPS and heavily modified suspension. If an aspect could be changed, it was. And that worked. Off-road was never the same after that point.
One of the coolest things about this machine, however, is that it has remained in Jones’ personal collection since he piloted it. At that time, it was common for successful cars to be sold and essentially run to death, 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 exhibition.
Because of its primitive nature and the historic significance of Big Oly, Hagerty is estimating that it could be sold for more than a million dollars. It is hard to imagine that it is worth less.