Automotive Blogger

Bandag Bandit smokes ‘em for the crowd

I have always been a big fan of trucks. Not just pick up trucks but big rigs. As a kid I thought I would some day become a truck driver and I often day dreamed about what my rig would look like. But perhaps my favorite big rig of all time is a highly modified Kenworth truck called the Bandag Bandit. I first found out about the Bandag Bandit when I got a picture book about the truck as a little kid. The book profiled several cool trucks owned by Tyrone Malone, but at the time I was too young to understand just how neat these rigs were. Years later when I was a college student driving across the country with some friends I spotted a truck being pulled on a trailer near the Bonneville Salt Flats. As I got closer I recognized the truck, it was the Bandag Bandit. This inspired me to do some research. After extensive searching I finally found an excellent site dedicated to Tyrone Malone and his amazing trucks.


Old Blue with Little Irvy the Sperm Whale on board

Malone, a showman and a drag racer, came up with a crazy idea one night while drinking at his favorite bar. He decided it would be a good idea to get a Sperm whale, freeze it and drive it around the country showing it to people. After securing a hard to get whaling permit, getting a whale and building a custom rig to house the frozen sea creature Malone’s dreams came true. As he drove around the country to different venues he realized that his custom truck was getting as much attention as the whale itself. So naturally he decided to build a show truck called the “Boss truck of America”. Things began to snowball and soon he was building his next truck called the Super Boss. This was an all out race truck complete with down force generating wings and a 1000 horsepower diesel motor. Malone took the Super Boss to Bonneville and set a land speed record at 144 mph. The 1300 horse power Bandag Bandit came shortly thereafter.

Record setting Super Boss

During this period Malone gained sponsorship from the Bandag tire company who made high quality retread tires for big rigs. The company loved the publicity that Malone brought with his traveling show so they decided to send him on a tour around the world. Tyrone Malone bounced from town to town doing burnouts, wheelies, drag racing and putting on a great show with his race trucks. He even made a few stops on the custom car circuit and was a huge success.


Bandag Bandit on board the Hideout truck

The Bandag Bandit and the Super Boss also had their own custom transport trucks, the Hideout truck for the Bandit and Papa truck for the Boss. Malone had a slew of other custom trucks and I must say they are some of the coolest big rig creations I have ever seen. Unfortunately Malone passed away in a car accident in the late 1990’s and his dream of building a trucker hall of fame never came to fruition. However, he and his amazing trucks will always live on in my childhood memories.

-Bill Mertz

trucks, big rig, drag racing, Bandag, Bandag Bandit, Super Boss, Kenworth, Sperm Whale