It’s amazing to think of how many iconic vehicles have been lost, but also how many have been re-discovered years later. The original Bullitt Mustangs are a great example of this, especially given the actual chase car and one of the stunt vehicles were found in quick succession after years of mystery. Then there’s the infamous Chrysler Norseman, still sitting at the bottom of the Atlantic in the remains of the Andre Doria. Well, one that was missing has now been found, this time a vehicle so big, you wonder how it evaded enthusiasts for so long: it’s Big Red, the turbine-powered hauler built by Ford Motor Company. Read the full story here on The Drive, which was able to locate the concept truck after decades of hiding.

You might wonder how something this large can ever go missing. But like so many other concept vehicles, when the original manufacturer is done with it, the allure of keeping it on ice for a few generations as a way to remember what might’ve been loses its luster pretty quickly. Even with all the costs that go into its development and upkeep, it’s far easier for the big OEMs to simply wash their hands of it. In the case of Big Red, which was built to demonstrate the potential of turbine-powered vehicles, a bizarre set of incidents led to it belonging to none other than the famous race shop Holman-Moody. After being set on display at a car show in Atlanta, a driver hired by Ford to bring it back to Detroit fired up the massive turbine mill – not realizing the engine had been drained of all fluids in accordance with the rules of the convention center.

Thus began the bizarre affair wherein Big Red was being towed back to Detroit, only to have the wrecker assigned with its retrieval break down near Charlotte. Holman-Moody, having a racing contract with Ford at the time, agreed to store it until a second rescue attempt could be made. Soon after picking it up, the Clean Air Act was passed and Ford unceremoniously severed its contract with Holman-Moody, forgetting that Big Red was still in their possession. Another spat soon followed, and Ford allowed Holman-Moody to keep Big Red. A few more years passed, and Big Red went into private hands – the same hands it’s been in ever since. This picture here shows the 20,000 pound truck with its current owner, who has been painstakingly restoring it ever since.

The current owner has gone to great lengths to keep Big Red as original as possible, even purchasing a new, replacement turbine engine made by the outfit that bought the gas turbine technology from Ford. The original Allison transmission was still with Big Red when sold by Holman-Moody, but required new flexplates to mate with the replacement engine. The owner has also restored the truck to its original paint color, and fixed numerous other issues stemming from years of neglect while in the Holman-Moody shop. Today, it resides in a purpose-built structure for the massive truck, and the owner has requested that its location remain secret until he decides he’s ready to bring it back into the public eye. Kudos to The Drive for hunting down this significant piece of motoring history, and best of luck to the current owner in seeing it through to completion.