Ford-Tonka dump truck a huge 'toy'

Ford Motor says it teamed with toy maker Tonka for a really big "toy" truck -- a full-size, fully functional, diesel-power, F-750 dump truck.

Ford will exhibit it at the National Equipment Association Work Truck show in Indianapolis Wednesday, then take it on tour of other work-truck and equipment shows.

"The people at Geneva (Motor Show this week) will wish they were here instead," quipped Ford's chief truck spokesman, Mike Levine.

The Mighty Ford Tonka dump truck is real -- hauls up to 17,000 pounds in the dump box, he says. Power is from a 6.7-liter diesel V-8 rated up to 330 horsepower, 725 pounds-feet of torque.

But it's a promotional item only, to draw attention to the new-design, 2016 F-650 and F-750 trucks.

Ford plans to build no more -- even though some business owners might pay a small fortune to have one as a rolling ad for their hauling companies.

"It's two iconic brands getting together to make a big toy for all ages," Levine says. he says. "Creating this F-750 Tonka truck is a special way to celebrate that many of today's Ford truck customers first drove a Tonka truck," says Kathy Hawk,vice president of marketing for Tonka parent Funrise Toy.

The Ford Tonka also is meant to call attention to the fact that Ford has moved production of its heaviest-duty F-series models -- the F-650 and F-750 -- to Avon Lake, Ohio, out of Mexico where the previous version was built.

Avon Lake formerly made E-series vans -- Econolines -- that have been discontinued. The big Transit van, on sale since last year, replaces the E-vans.

The model on which the Tonka is based is beyond what Ford calls "Super Duty," which runs from F-250 to F-550. Those wind up on the street as factory-made high-capacity pickups, and after-market modified into ambulances, tow trucks and other specialty vehicles.

Perversely, for those not truck savvy, the hulking, brawny dump truck and its ilk are considered medium-duty models, and are identified as Class VII vehicles. Semi-tractor rigs are Class VIII and considered the true heavy duty vehicles.

Ford has said it will make extensive use of aluminum on the next-generation Super Duty models, drawing on experience from the aluminum-body F-150 -- a standard-duty model in truckers' lexicon -- that went on sale last November. That move to aluminum won't include the F-650 and F-750.