Enter The Dragon… 

10/07/2025

The adrenaline-pumping Red Dragon Monster Truck Ride will be on hand to deliver a unique experience at this year’s Full of the Pipe extravaganza at Mondello Park, where visitors can enjoy the thrills and spills of riding on Europe’s only race-framed monster ride truck. 

One of the many big attractions at Full of the Pipe 2025 will be the Red Dragon Monster Truck Ride. The world-famous Red Dragon is a race-spec Ford F-350 monster truck, owned and operated by Clive Shaw Trucking. 

Offering passengers the possibly-once-in-a-lifetime chance to ride on board and crush cars, the Red Dragon Monster Ride Truck is the only tubular framed race specification ride truck in Europe, with 6.5 litre Chevy V8 engine giving more torque to cater for the extra weight of carrying up to ten passengers. 

The monster truck, which makes its debut at Full of the Pipe this weekend, is suitable for people young and old as long as they are over 3 feet tall. Standing at 11 feet high, 12.5 feet wide and 19 feet long, whilst weighing in at approximately 5 ton, the powerful yet appealing Red Dragon Monster Truck crushes any car in its path! 

Fitting in perfectly with the ‘Convoy 25’ theme of this year’s Full of the Pipe, Clive Shaw Trucking are also bringing their American mini trucks to Mondello, which are sure to go down a storm with young children. 

Lesley Hollis, Clive’s partner, confirms: “It’s the only race-framed ride truck in Europe, the only one in Europe that can take passengers over cars. We’d have lots of American trucks and also offer regular American-truck-driving experiences in full-sized trucks at various locations around the UK and Northern Ireland. 

“We got this monster truck three years ago and it has proven to be extremely popular. We knew the people who had ‘Dragon’ before us and they wanted to retire so we decided to buy it off them. 

“We’ve been working in the events arena for a number of years now and are also going to be brining over the mini petrol American truck rides that kids drive.” 

This will be Red Dragon’s one and only appearance in the Republic of Ireland in 2025: “It’s our only visit over there this year,” Lesley notes. “This is a special one-of-a-kind monster truck that takes ten people at a time. We’ve had the mini trucks over at Full of the Pipe before but this is our first time to bring ‘Dragon’ over. 

“It comes over in an artic and we build it up again when we get there. We’d have a team of three working on it, unloading it and putting the big wheels back on, etc.” 

How much will a ride on the monster truck cost and can interested individuals reserve a place? “Unfortunately, we don’t take bookings. It’s just a matter of turning up and waiting for a go. We’re expecting a lot of interest and the queues could be long but it’s worth the wait. As far as I know, we’re heading over on the Thursday, setting up on the Friday, and ‘Dragon’ will be there at the event on the Saturday and the Sunday. 

“It’s €15 per person per ride and we can accept either cash or payment by Revolut. Unfortunately, because we’re from the UK, the credit card machine won’t work in Ireland. We strive to keep the price down as best as we possibly can because everything is so expensive today and nobody has any spare money. 

“Between the cost of taking the truck over and our massive insurance bill, there are a lot of overheads but we’ve made it as reasonable as we possibly can. We’re very aware that even if we put it up by €2.50, if you had a family of four all getting on, that would set them back an additional tenner, so we’re trying to be as fair to everybody as we can.” 

All we need now is some nice weather and in Ireland – even in July – that’s not necessarily always a given! “To be fair, every time we have ever been over to Ireland we’ve had amazing weather and we absolutely love it over there. 

“The mini trucks are always very popular. They are American-themed based on the big rigs and cater for kids as young as two, although kids under five will have to be accompanied by an adult. The mini trucks are Optimus Prime from Transformers, Bandit from Smokey and the Bandit, The Convoy Mack from the Convoy movie with Kris Kristofferson – which aligns nicely with the theme of the show, and the Pork Chop Express from Big Trouble in Little China. They’ll be in big demand and Red Dragon will draw people from miles away…” 

To make sure there are no breakdowns or unexpected hiccups, the Red Dragon team cover every eventuality: “We carry every imaginable spare part with us. This is not like a stunt truck that goes out there and does 15 minutes. It could be running for 14 hours so the maintenance and care that goes into it is unreal. We have every conceivable spare part in the truck and then you have all the daily checks, etc. For safety reasons, you have to be beyond vigilant. It used to be a race truck but was converted over to a ride truck 15 years ago.” 

It must be a rewarding experience to bring a monster truck like this to shows and witness the joy it brings? “We have a lot of fun and so do the passengers. We get to meet a lot of amazing people and the smiles on their faces when they get off are brilliant to see. Some people can’t get enough of it – we once had one lad who had 16 rides in a day!” 

Little wonder Red Dragon is booked out for the entire summer season and beyond! “We’re in Northern Ireland on May 17th and after that will run consistently every weekend up until bonfire night. We’ll have the mini trucks along with us too and will go all over.” 

As for the prospect of being at the centre of Full of the Pipe 2025, Lesley concludes: “We can’t wait. We love it over there in Ireland and always have a great time. Everyone is looking forward to Mondello. The guys have been absolutely great to work with and when you meet guys like that and see how professional and safety-conscious they are, it’s very heartening. No stone is left unturned and they are a pleasure to deal with.” 

Full of the Pipe Truck Show Ireland is on July 12 & 13 in Mondello Park