Lake Stevens’ Tow Mater is on the block

LAKE STEVENS — Tow Mater is headed to the auction block but not without first driving a lasting impression home for his Snohomish County crew.

The life-sized replica of the instantly loveable, buck-toothed tow truck from the Disney/Pixar movie “Cars” is going up for bid in Arizona later this month.

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.

“We’ve had a lot of fun with him,” said Walkley, of Lake Stevens. “You would not believe the fun.”

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.

More than 2 million people have visited Mater in his travels from Alaska to Texas and many places in between.

“I call him an attractive magnet,” Walkley said. “Ain’t nothing that draws people in like he does.”

Walkley, dressed the part of the tow truck’s owner in a hat, Levi’s, a Carhartt coat and cowboy boots, said he has tracked the number of visitors with a fish counter.

“The more Mater traveled, the more stories Jack had to tell,” Janes said. “The smile on his face was just amazing to see.”

But as the traveling grew tiresome and Mater exceeded his charity goal, Walkley, 70, made the tough decision to sell. He also lost his travel mate and brother-in-law, Dan Epling, who died last summer.

“We called him ‘Showman’ because any place we’d go he’d put on a show,” Walkley said. “It was a hoot. We’ve done everything we wanted to do.”

Barrett-Jackson, the collector car auction company that sold the Batmobile for $4.6 million, is putting Mater up for bid. The live auction is schedule to be televised on Fox Jan. 17.

“We’re talking big dollars, big money being thrown around,” Janes said.

Walkley said he expects to get anywhere from $5,000 to $500,000 for his rig. He assembled it from a 1955 Chevy 1 1/2 ton farm truck found in Wyoming, a 1964 Mack cab from Montana, a 1955 Holmes wrecker out of Arizona and parts found across America.

“Talk about something funny, getting attached to a truck,” Walkley said. “It’s a damn piece of metal.”

Despite his metal exterior, Mater has made memories which Walkley will take on down the road.

One particular trip with his tow truck, Walkley said, had a lasting impact.

For the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Walkley took a 6-year-old girl for a ride. On the trip, the child told Walkley riding in Mater was like heaven, which was where she was going in three months.

“It broke my heart. It makes you realize what life’s about,” Walkley said. “It was all worth it right there.”

The lesson Walkley has taken from his time with Mater parallels the movie’s theme.

The film’s main character, Lightning McQueen, learns from a stint in Mater’s hometown to slow down and appreciate the small things. Lightning transitions from a selfish race car to Mater’s best friend, who through simple gestures brings life back to Radiator Springs, a deserted town on the iconic American Route 66.

The movie resonated with Walkley, who raced sprint cars when he was younger. He even came to know the famous NASCAR driver, “The King,” Richard Petty, on whom one of the movie’s cars is based. Over his lifetime, Walkley, too, has learned to slow his roll. He said the most important thing is to always have fun in one’s work.

An enjoyable part of his journey with Mater was bringing smiles to the faces of thousands of children who had their photos taken with the toothy truck. They left, memories in hand.

“It’s been amazing to me something so simple can bring so much joy,” Walkley said.

Amy Nile: 425-339-3192; anile@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Alex Hanson looks over sections of the Herald and sets the ink on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Black Press, publisher of Everett’s Daily Herald, is sold

The new owners include two Canadian private investment firms and a media company based in the southern United States.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.