Make the World Your Sandbox: F-150 Tonka Edition
With only around 500 produced, this special edition F-150 is as hard to find as it is impossible to miss.
Over the course of the F-150’s long lifespan, it’s safe to say there’s been no shortage of special editions. From tire-roasting hot trucks like the Lightning and Foose Edition, to bold motorcycle-themed rigs like the Harley-Davidson Edition, Blue Oval fans have long had unique options. Recently, we were reminded about the F-150 Tonka Edition, and were genuinely surprised at how few of these big boy toys seem to be available for sale. That said? We probably shouldn’t have been, as despite all our years of going to automotive events around the country, we’ve never seen one in person. Given the 120-decibel yellow paint, it’s safe to say we’d remember if we had.
Save the embroidery on the headrests, Tonka badge on the center console, and exclusive floor mats, the interior is all stock F-150. But you hardly have to be an expert on the model to notice there have been some big changes to the exterior. There’s recessed Tonka script in the front bumper and tailgate, special side cladding, fender flares, a beefy lift, chrome wheels, and running boards, among other touches. One fun fact? The windows are tinted as heavily as they can be and remain 50-state legal.
Now, like the Harley-Davidson Edition, the Tonka is constructed by the folks at Indiana’s Tuscany Motor Company. Unlike the born-to-be-wild hauler, however, this isn’t just an appearance package.
Under the hood, there’s a 5.0-liter V-8 that’s been worked over by the wizards at Shelby America. The addition of a supercharger means it’s good for a whopping 700 horsepower, and given it’s hooked up to a Borla exhaust, it has to sound fantastic. While we’re not sure on the zero-to-60 time, that’s a brutal amount of power to have on tap in a pickup, and it’s worth noting that given it was first offered in 2014, the fire-breathing Tonka predates Ma Mopar’s first Hellcat offering by a year.
While the official line is that 500 were produced from 2014 to 2016, our friends at Hagerty determined that while 200 were scheduled to be built in the final year, only 128 made it off the assembly line.
Out of curiosity, we went looking to see what these bad boys are going for, and like we mentioned above, finding one isn’t the easiest trick. The best candidate we found was on a site called Trovit. With tiny images, and an invasive, pop-up happy interface, the Trovit user experience is honestly as bad as we’ve seen on a car site, and since the ad is noted as being over 30 days old, we have no idea whether this example is still for sale. At $66,000, it’s not a cheap date, but it’s sure to be a hit with any kids — both young and old — at your local show and shine.
On our way down the Tonka rabbit hole, we also stumbled across the magnificent F-750 dump truck version, which looks even more like the namesake toy. For what it’s worth, we like the F-750 version even better than its smaller sibling, and think the world would be way more fun if these were standard issue at job sites. Unfortunately, this truck was just a one-off concept for the 2015 NTEA Work Truck Show, so don’t expect to see one hauling gravel any time soon.
Now that these trucks are on our radar, we’re going to be keeping out eyes peeled to try to get a better idea of what they’re going for — but our gut says these will remain tricky to track down. So what do you think about the F-150 Tonka Edition? Is this a rig that you’d rock, or would you rather Tonka trucks stay bite-sized? Ever seen one for sale? Head into the forums and let us know!
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