BIG OLY
Photos by Boyd Jaynes
Big Oly is the race Bronco built by fabricator Dick Russell and Bill Stroppe, using Parnelli Jones’ ideas brought over from his Indy Car racing experiences. It was one of the first purpose-built off-road vehicles with twin I-Beams, a full-tube chassis, and a Ford 351 Windsor V8 for power. With Jones behind the wheel, it went on to win the 1971 and ’72 Baja 1000 races overall, and the 1973 Baja 500 overall race. Big Oly was featured in the June issue of SCORE Journal.
ABOVE: The cab was very basic, with shifter and gauges on the console, and air filter on the center dash to keep it clear from dust.
BELOW: Big Oly was a complete tube-chassis but was three inches narrower than a factory Ford Bronco. All of the body panels were fiberglass
