Ford Goes Tonka Tough at Work Truck Show
Here's a pickup truck for kids of all ages: the 2016 Ford F-750 Tonka. Ford unveiled the nearly 10-foot-tall Tonka-yellow behemoth at the National Truck Equipment Association's Work Truck Show in Indianapolis.
Based on the all-new 2016 Ford F-650/F-750, the Tonka offers all the capability of the medium-duty truck along with a working dump body. Developed as a collaboration between Ford and Funrise Toy Corp. (manufacturer of Tonka toys), the truck celebrates the fact that many of Ford's customers "first drove a Tonka truck," Kathy Hawk, Funrise vice president of marketing, said in a statement.
The Tonka package is powered by Ford's turbo-diesel 6.7-liter V-8 Power Stroke engine (offered in three different power ratings) paired to a 6R140 six-speed automatic HD transmission. It rolls on a 158-inch wheelbase, has a gross vehicle weight rating of 33,000 pounds, and its dump body can haul up to 17,000 pounds.
Don't hold your breath for any type of Tonka trim package; however, the entire 2016 F-650/F-750 lineup will be available by the third quarter.
To read the full press release, click here.
Manufacturer images
Comments
That's a pretty cool iidea, we all drove Tonka's first LOL.
The grille on that toy tonka truck sure looks like an early 90s sierra.
Is this actually going to be an option? It isn't April 1st yet.
The paint scheme minus the Tonka name would be popular since it is bold and stands out.
Not much metal left in Tonka toys. I had bought dump trucks and loaders for my sons and they were junk. It was disappointing since I have fond memories of the ones I had as a boy.
Nice to see they took the 6.7 Cummins out of it, and the Allison trans Ford is backing its pats now I see
That's funny! Ford has a reputation in medium duty trucks as being a 'toy' compared to Internationals and Freightliners. Who was the marketing genius that came up with this one?
@Big Bob - agreed. Obviously not a commercial trucker.
Is GM going to re-enter the MDT segment?
That is more important news than a yellow and black Ford dump truck.
@Lou_BC
"@Big Bob - agreed. Obviously not a commercial trucker."
Another in agreement
@Lou_BC,
Then you can put a CAT engine in it and have CAT all over it.
Big Al from Oz - Caterpillar has chosen not to play in the road legal engine market due to emissions R&D.
"Not much metal left in Tonka toys. I had bought dump trucks and loaders for my sons and they were junk. It was disappointing since I have fond memories of the ones I had as a boy. "
And you can add to that sentiment, not much Tonka left in Tonka toys. Because Hasbro sold the Tonka line to China's Funrise Toys, and Funrise is using the Tonka brand under license from Hasbro until it can create a new brand identity and slowly phase out the Tonka name.
"Is GM going to re-enter the MDT segment?
That is more important news"
That is a question, and there is no new news on it. GM ended production of the Chevrolet Kodiak and GMC TopKick medium-duty trucks in August 2009 after failing to sell the line of Class 5-7 work trucks to Isuzu or Navistar.
Don't be to hard on Ford after all it took a lot of hard work to paint a truck yellow and put a Tonka decal on it so that PickUpTruck.com could make believe Ford did something big.
@ imoore - companies like Walmart encourage that sort of race to the bottom.
PITY.
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