El Diablo was a custom 3D devil concept monster truck owned by FELD Motorsports. It was driven by JP Ruggiero from 2013-2015, and Lupe Soza throughout the 2016 season. Since the truck's creation as part of a truck-naming contest in 2012, El Diablo competed in Monster Jam events held across both the United States and Latin America and has also competed in three Young Guns Shootout competitions at the Monster Jam World Finals.
History[]
In 2012, Monster Jam hosted an online fan vote for the naming of a special Hispanic-themed monster truck, with the winning name being El Diablo. The truck would later enter its first full year of competition the following year, with JP behind the wheel on a PEI chassis. At the time of its debut, the truck featured a 1955 Chevrolet Cameo body style. Ruggiero and the truck would later be invited to compete in the Young Guns Shootout at Monster Jam World Finals XIV.
In 2014, a brand-new El Diablo was created, featuring a new custom 3D devil body style and chassis, which last ran as Dustin Brown's Wolverine. Ruggiero and the truck would later be invited to compete in the Young Guns Shootout at World Finals XV after World Finals Lupe Soza would make a one-off appearance in El Diablo for Salinas 2014 before driving it full time. JP Ruggiero would continue to drive the truck until his departure from Monster Jam by the end of the 2015 season. Meanwhile, Nic Granlund would drive the truck for select international events that season.
2016 marked El Diablo’s final year of competition. For that season, Lupe Soza took over the driving duties as a new chassis was constructed for the truck. Later in April, the chassis would compete as El Toro Loco with Becky McDonough driving. The truck’s final show would be on October 8th of that year in Glendale, with Lee O’Donnell driving. El Diablo would be retired afterward, as Soza would also retire from driving by the end of the season.
The chassis would later be converted into the all-new Wonder Woman for the 2017 season.
World Finals appearances[]
- 2013 - JP Ruggiero (Young Guns Shootout only)
- 2014 - JP Ruggiero (Young Guns Shootout only)
- 2015 - JP Ruggiero (Young Guns Shootout only)
Video game appearances[]
Trivia[]
- El Diablo is Spanish for "The Devil."
- Two other entries were featured in the online vote, being Rayo Veloz (“Lightning Fast”), and El Luchador (“The Fighter”).
- During pit parties, El Diablo was always hung from a crane to display the face featured on the roof of the truck.
- Due to its relatively short wheelbase, El Diablo was famous for performing sky wheelies.
- El Diablo never received a diecast release over the course of its career. While there were several completed prototypes and finished products of both variations of El Diablo in Hot Wheels diecast form, they were never released or mass-produced. This was due to a focus group of both children and adults saying the toy was “too scary looking,” and that they disapproved of the name.
- Despite this, El Diablo did receive a plush truck release, which, as of 2021, is the only piece of merchandise for the truck that can still be purchased on the Monster Jam Superstore.
- El Diablo shared many similarities with Radical Rescue, such as both trucks being the only ones created by Monster Jam to feature Chevrolet Cameo body styles.
- Beginning in 2014 up until its retirement, El Diablo was known for being the rival truck to El Toro Loco, due to both trucks being themed after Hispanic culture, which led to the creation of the South of the Border contests.
- The primary reason El Diablo was ultimately retired was due to the expensive cost of making the body, being at $20,000. This was also due to the lack of merchandising of the truck, which in turn was due to controversy surrounding the name.
- This is the first truck that Starr Creations made & is one of their favorites.
Gallery[]
