The latest instalment of the beloved film franchise “Mad Max” has raced onto the big screens here in Australia. The film is notorious for featuring over the top and crazily modified vehicles, and monster trucks have not been absent from these films either. In Mad Max Fury Road, “The Bigfoot” (not to be confused with Bob Chandler’s legendary and iconic Bigfoot truck) was ran on Shattered Silence for all scenes except for the crash stunt. The crash was performed with Stress Factor, which retired the chassis altogether.

In Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Chris Hemsworth’s character “Dementus” drives “The Six Foot”, the name for this six wheeled machine. The truck’s original chassis was formerly Sampson, an Australian monster truck owned by Sam Xuereb. The original chassis debuted in 1999 and was last run in March of 2016. The Xuereb’s began converting the truck over for the film, and remained in their ownership for most of the movies production. The truck would eventually be sold to the film crew and would be used for its final scenes including the gate crash stunt.

Left and Right: Screenshots from Warner Bros. new film “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, showcasing “The Six Foot” Monster Truck.
Centre: Screenshot from MotorTrend’s Furiosa Vehicle Showcase video, displaying the former Sampson chassis undergoing construction to become “The Six Foot” for the film.

The Six Foot wasn’t the only Monster Truck in the film, nor was it the only appearances by the Xuereb’s in the film. The Xuereb’s tank can be briefly seen in the film, which is a cool little easter egg to those eagle eyed fans. The tank also looks different in the film- and that’s because CGI was used to help it resemble one of the vehicles from the previous film, as the original was destroyed during the filming of Fury Road. But that’s not all, as Tropical Thunder would display a familiar body. The “Bigfoot” body would be placed on Tropical Thunder, which would also be featured in the film. Michael also stated he did drive Bigfoot during its scenes in the movie as well as testing of The Six Foot and stunt work with it prior to filming.

Photos courtesy of Michael Xuereb.
Left- Bigfoot on top of Tropical Thunder. Right- The Xuereb’s tank during filming.

The film premiered on May 23rd, and the reception for the film has been very positive according to movie rating sites such as Rotten Tomatoes. So if you are looking for a great action adventure movie featuring a six wheeled Australian Monster Truck driven by Australia’s own Chris Hemsworth- this is the film for you.