Texarkana Native Sells Famous Race Vehicle For 1.82 Million

Texarkana native Parnelli Jones recently sold his famous off-road race vehicle a 1969 Ford Bronco for 1.82 million dollars at an auction.

Born in Texarkana, Arkansas in 1933 Rufus 'Parnelli' Jones is a well know on-road and off-road racer. Jones and his family moved from Texarkana to Torrance California when he was a child. Jones received his nickname of 'Parnelli' from a boyhood friend Billy Calder.

Parnelli Jones raced in the Indy 500 and retired with 6 wins. He also raced in Nascar and had 4 wins in just 34 starts. He also raced in Spring Cars and had 35 wins. He is also closely aligned with the 302 Boss Mustang and has won the famous Pike's Peak International Hill Climb.

The vehicle called 'Big Oly' is his most famous race vehicle. This 1969 Ford Bronco has won the famous Baja 1000 twice, the Baja 500 and the Mint 400.

The story is that Parnelli had retired from a successful racing career racing for a gentleman named Bob Stroppe. Mr. Stroppe had built many of the race cars that Parnelli had raced with and wanted him to go off-road racing. Being a longtime friend he actually called Parnelli out saying 'he did not have what it takes to be an off-road racer' and the rest is history. I wonder where Big Oly will go, maybe a museum or a private collection?