Dennis Anderson’s Grave Digger monster truck. Photo from wikipedia.org

This week’s top five list features cars that are highly custom, purpose-built or prototypes from the factory. Our top five list continues with one of the most popular customs ever to grace the stadium dirt. Dennis Anderson’s Grave Digger monster truck has become one of the most recognizable Chevy trucks of all time.

While this tube chassis custom is currently powered by a big-block Chevy, it didn’t start life with this configuration. Grave Digger was originally conceived in 1981 by Dennis Anderson as a mud bogger and it was originally a 1952 Ford pickup truck (gasp).

Anderson changed to a silver and blue 1951 Chevy Panel Truck that became the first Grave Digger monster truck. In 1986 Grave Digger underwent a transformation to complete monster truck and first received its famous black graveyard paint scheme.

Photo from wikipedia.org

Anderson moved to Grave Digger 2 in 1989, with a new 1950 Chevy panel van body, the configuration that still exists today. In 1991, Anderson debuted the Grave Digger 3 as a four-link truck. As the popularity of monster trucks grew, Anderson hired other drivers and built other Grave Digger trucks to meet the demanding schedule. In late 1998, Anderson sold the Grave Digger team, but continues to drive and is still the frontman for the team.

The Grave Digger became the most popular truck on the tour in 1989 and has not relinquished that spot. This earns it a top five spot in our best customs/prototypes of all time.