Life-size replica of Tow Mater will be auctioned

A man in Washington state who built a life-size replica of Tow Mater from the Disney-Pixar “Cars” movies will auction the truck Arizona later this month, according to the Daily Herald of Everett, Wash.

The film’s original inspiration to Tow Mater — a rusty 1951 International boom truck — still sits on Route 66 in Galena, Kan., as you can see below:

But a business owner in Everett several years ago made sure to build a nearly exact replica of the buck-toothed tow truck in the films.

Jack Walkley, owner of Everett’s Cobra Construction, and his crew have put $120,000, 13 coats of paint and 2½ years into perfecting every detail of the recognizable rusty rig.

“Jack spent so much time making sure everything was exact, not just close — exact,” said Marley Janes, Walkley’s bookkeeper. “He has put a lot of heart and soul into this truck.”

Walkley has used Mater’s cartoonish charisma to raise more than $760,000 for charity since completing the rubber-and-rust reproduction in March 2010. […]

Mater has his own bank account, is on Facebook and Twitter, and has a nonprofit organization, the Rusty Wrecker. He has drawn attention from Larry the Cable Guy, who voiced the movie’s show-stealing, down-home country character, and Disney/Pixar executives.

“They said he was by far the best in the world,” Walkley said.

Walkley said he’s grown tired of traveling, and his brother-in-law died over the summer. So he decided to sell the vehicle, which is a combination 1955 Chevrolet farm truck, a 1964 Mack cab, a 1955 Holmes wrecker and various other parts.

Barrett-Jackson is auctioning Tow Mater live on Fox television on Jan. 17. You can see the listing here.

UPDATE: Walkley’s Tow Mater was sold Friday for $62,000.

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