Climbing into the driver’s seat of an 18-wheeler is enough to give most enthusiasts a “King of the Road” feeling, but the classic Peterbilt sitting before us takes that to a whole new level. This is an old-school monster truck that has been revived in recent times and is now turning heads at various events.
The 1986 Peterbilt “King of the Road” 6×6 may share gatherings with bro trucks that can hardly crawl over a curb these days, but this Class 8 commercial truck (the largest one available) is a proper climber, having crushed its fair share of cars back in its monster truck days.
During that time, the vehicle used to be owned by Don Buchholtz of Wyoming, Iowa. However, it seems that the high-riding beast has traded hands and is currently in the possession of Ohio-based Tony Sterwerf.
The latter aficionado, who owns a trucking company, has installed some upgrades on the slice of America earlier this year, with the vehicle being showcased at the Cole Motors Freedom Truck Meet back in June. And that’s where it was caught on camera by multiple YouTubers, including Built Diesel Mafia, which brought us the video below and Crude Diesel, the car lover from the intro pic.
And, thanks to monsterphoto, a small blog dedicated to monster trucks, I was able to find some tech data and a few images that show what this six-by-six behemoth is capable of when it’s done with the parade.
The big numbers describing the King of the Road Peterbilt monster truck
Sporting 66-inch tires, the semi is powered by a Caterpillar 3406 893 ci (14.6L) straight-six diesel, which is mated to a ten-speed transmission. The power is sent to all six wheels via a 2 1/2-ton transfer case, while the trio of 5-ton FWD military axles can fully withstand it.
The 1986 Peterbilt King of the Road sits 13 feet high, while weighing in at an impressive 23,000 lbs, which explains its car-crushing potential.
The old images below show the KOTR flattening vehicles at the Florida Fair, with the woman behind the wheel being nicknamed the Princess of Power.
Interestingly, a gentleman named Robby Morrison came to the comments section of a Facebook photo posted by the new owner, mentioning he is the son of the former driver—such impressive machines always have a way of bringing people together, be in in person or over the web.
I first read about King of the Road in a monster truck book I had when I was a kid. Both this and Bigfoot 5 are the biggest and baddest monster trucks ever built, and it’s nice to know this one’s still around!
This monster truck is from my hometown. Wyoming Iowa. The semi was very popular in our little town. I’m glad it got a new life and it still looks the same. This semi is part of my child hood and all the others that lived in Wyoming. You guess did it right. Nice job. It brought back good childhood memory’s