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Digger Man

Digger Man Blog

by Nick Drew  |  Thu 12 Aug 2021

Champion at CONEXPO 81 (Archive Photos)

We have featured the huge Champion 100T motor grader here on the Digger Man Blog in the past, but today we re-visit the topic once more, thanks to some amazing archive photos from our American friend Garret Wilson.

Champion at CONEXPO 81 (Archive Photos)

Champion’s 100-T, was first revealed in in 1975 and was to become the largest production grader ever built. It was only ever beaten to the title by the Italian built ACCO grader, but only one of those was produced, was never put to work in anger, and has sadly since been cut up for scrap, whereas there were actually 13 Champion 100T’s built and some are still surviving to this day.

These iconic old photos show one of those machines making a dominating appearance at the CONEXPO exhibition in 1981.

Back in those days CONEXPO was held in Houston, Texas, and in this instance many of the exhibits were showcased within the confines of the Astrodome American football stadium.

These old photos give us a good display of the sheer size of the 100T with the gathering crowds around it.

It also reminds us of a time gone by when cigarette advertising was something we always saw at sporting venues and events, as witnessed here with the big Marlboro banner on display!

Find out more about the Champion 100T by checking out this previous blog post, click on the link.

The Digger Man Blog would like to thank Garret for allowing us to share these classic old photos here, which I believe originally came from a guy called Graham May, who is another American heavy equipment enthusiast.  

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