When deciding whether to bring my son along for motoring events, the same inevitable questions always crop up - is he going to enjoy himself? Will he have anything to eat and drink? Is the hot weather going to irritate him? Shall I just leave him at home and watch Octonauts?

More often than not, one of the above factors will get to him - but not this time at Monster Trucks Unleashed. A roving Australian event by Monster Events, we caught the show at Perth in January.

For families? Are you serious?

You may think it’d be a rather ‘uncouth’ event, but it couldn’t be further from the truth! From the moment we arrived, we were greeted by crowds of families - there’s just something about monster trucks that draws children.

Starting with a Pit Party, there was a row of all of the monster trucks that would be going onto the oval that people could take photos of. The truck drivers were also on hand to pose with their fans. Here, other vehicles including drag cars and motorbikes were also on display. Kids got their chance to sit in one of them!

Patriotic monsters

When the show started proper, it was interesting to hear the Australian national anthem being played and everyone singing fervently to it. The American anthem also played thereafter, as the main stunt driver was American. It almost felt like we were in Texas, or something!

Thousands of horsepower

Honestly, there isn’t much of a finesse in the way the some 4-tonne monster trucks made their way around the track - but it was amazingly fun seeing them do jumps over stacked cars. The way they turned with surprisingly a small turning radius was also interesting to watch - despite their size and huge wheels. And they’re really quick - equipped with supercharged V8 engines in excess of 7000 cc and well over 1000 hp, they made a deafening noise not unlike a nuclear boat!

What made the event interesting were the supporting shows that were equally as exhilarating. The aforementioned American stunt driver does work for movie films, so he displayed some of his death-defying skills on-site driving through car barriers and surviving car flips.

The Jet Rocket Yaris

There was also a team of bikers that performed their incredible jumps and flips like just sipping a cup of coffee. But the darling of the show has to be the rocket-powered mid 2000s Toyota Yaris. Pairing the vanilla Yaris chassis adorned with Hot Wheels livery and a humungous jet exhaust at the rear, it was easily the most adorable vehicle out there. Its cute looks belie its terrific pace when the jet engine is turned up to its fullest degree!

The day ended with all of the monster trucks coming out in quick succession and doing stunts simultaneously. There was never a dull moment and I’d highly recommend this event for families in Australia. Just bring ear mufflers!

Photos by James Wong

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