5 replies to this topic

[mike1972chev]

I had one of these as a kid in red ,with the white top on it in the early 1970s. I played with it until it was gone !!!! (Along with the famous Tonka dump truck !)  lol  In the past years ,I have a BAD habit of buying these up in bad shape, redoing them, and then give them away to the nephews, and other kids who still like the old, steel REAL toys. (Something I have done in between the slot cars, and the 1/1 REAL cars I try to work on still...  :/ )

 

This is the latest one in safety yellow. This one took a bit of body work, as it had some bad rust pitting in the hood area after sand blasting. Something I NEVER understood is that tonka sent out these "Dune Buggy" Jeeps NOT EVEN close to being level????  The rear ends had about an inch of "rake" in it ,and was dragging it's butt around like a dog that had something stuck to it!   I add  my custom leveling kits to each one of them before I ship them out. I even was happy with the white letter resto on this particular one.. it will find a new home one of these days with a deserving kid  to play with for years to come.    I will post all of the Tonka stuff I have redone ,then sent them back out on the road/OFF road to be put back in service for years to come hopefully?   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bill from NH]

Those old Tonkas were tough toys. I had the dump truck & my brother the pickup in the '50s. Both saw a lot of hard constant use outdoors playing in the dirt. We knocked the paint off but spray cans fixed that, When we grew up, we left them at my parent's for younger brothers & sisters to play with as well as their children & grandchildren. One of my brothers-in-law collects ols toys, not just Tonka but Structo & others too. I think our old Tonkas are in his collection. My own son had 6 or 7 pieces of the Tonka large steel yellow construction equipment. When he went in the Army, he left them at our house. Ten years later, our grandsons played with them when they visited from New York & Arizona. When they outgrew them, we donated them to a local childcare facility where they get daily use.

[mike1972chev]

OK, Here are a set that ended up with Nephew #1 and Nephew #2 . I went a little over board with these adding a roll bar and soft tops to them. ( My upholstery guy is UNMATCHED in his talents !   He even added the plastic rear windows !  )  They were probably not the best idea, because I am sure they were played with quite well. Here again, adding the rear leveling kits to them to get an even stance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mike1972chev]

These two ended up with Nephew#3 (Gray Jeep ) and Nephew #4 (Red Jeep.)  The Gray Jeep was painted to match my daily driver JL ,even though I am pretty sure these Tonkas were modeled after the old M38s ? (FLAT hoods on them. Because of the flat head engines. The M38A1s got the first domed hoods because of the new over head valve engines.      )  The Red Jeep is wearing an original set of my Tonka wrecker tires/wheels from when i was a kid. I "Monster Trucked" it for him.(Yea the rest is LONG gone ! lol) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mike1972chev]

This one I did as a Military Jeep. I added the spare tire. It also got a hitch added .This  will find a new home soon. (Did I tell you I got a new nephew a week ago??? Nephew #5    )   I might do a special one for him yet? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mike1972chev]

And these are my last two. The pick up was found at a yard sale for like $5 ,and in semi decent shape. The auto transporter IS my original toy as a kid. It was about the only Tonka to survive me ,as I didnt play with it very much! lol.  I have LONG lost the plastic Corvettes that went with it, but my Parma Womps fit on the deck pretty well I think.   I think the lime green is my favorite Tonka color out of all choices. I will hang onto my transporter for awhile,but like all thing,one day it will end up elsewhere. 

 

 

I STILL wish I had my dump truck,and my wrecker to pass on,but those made it to the scrap yard. I played with them to the death,but that is what they were made for.