Ever Wish You Had a Life-Size Tonka Truck? [VIDEO]

There's a good chance you played with Tonka trucks as a kid. But one Wisconsin man has turned that childhood love into a real-life labor of love and created a life-size Tonka tow truck.

As KARE 11 TV reports from Menomonie, Wis., Brad Doane, third-generation at Irvington Garage Towing, built a 16-foot-long, 10-foot-tall, 2-ton life-size fabrication of a vintage Tonka Mighty Wrecker from the late '60s/early '70s.

"To own a towing service is to covet trucks like a skinned-kneed boy," says reporter Boyd Huppert.

His creation even has its own website, www.igtmightyone.com, with a slideshow tracing the creation of the truck and more pages filled with photos and newspaper clippings from the history of Irvington Garage.

Though the truck is fully functional and a registered vehicle, it won't be towing many cars. Like the toy it's based on, its winch has a hand crank. But it's a great attention-getter for the company. This weekend, Doane will drive it in the Spirit of the Lakes parade in Mound, Minn., the birthplace of Tonka Toys.