Man builds working life-size Tonka truck

Published July 18, 2013 5:40pm

Who says LEGOs are the only childhood toys adults can indulge in?

A man in Wisconsin is now driving around in a tow truck built to resemble a tough steel Tonka "Mighty Wrecker" toy, US TV station WTSP reported.

"You can't mistake what it is. 'Dang, that looks like a Tonka truck,'" said Brad Doane, whose family runs a towing service.

The report described the truck, which rolled out of the garage earlier this year, as 16 feet long, 10 feet tall—and weighing two tons.

It uses a drive train of a 1984 Chevy pickup Brad bought along a roadside for $700.

Brad spent a year building the Tonka replica, which the report said is "fully functional and a registered vehicle—and even has a winch with a hand crank.

"When you're driving down the road and you meet people, it's not like they give a double take; it's like a triple take," he said.

"I had to keep it true to the little guy you know," he added.

He plans to bring the truck to community parades and festivals.

Start of Tonka 'obsession'

It quoted Brad's mother Lonna Doane as saying her son's obsession with Tonka trucks may have started when she brought home a "well-used" Tonka tow truck she bought at a charity auction.

"Mom, I want to build the Tonka," she recalled him saying.

She added her 40-year-old son, a diehard Tonka fan, "had every Tonka there ever was."

Lonna said Brad's work was a complete "labor of love for him." — TJD, GMA News

Tags: tonka