Seeing Ernie Vole's 70-ton tow truck called "It's Showtime" pull up at an accident must inspire confidence in everyone at the scene. This is a massive, beautiful beast of a truck, fire engine red and outfitted with gleaming chrome. It sports a rotator boom that extends hydraulically and rotates 360 degrees, as well as two 60,000-pound boom winches and a 50,000-pound deck winch.

"Usually when I pull up, they're in real trouble," Vole says of his clients, who call Ernie's Wrecker Service to right overturned big rigs, tankers, concrete mixers and other vehicles too massive for regular tow trucks. Vole took over the wrecker business from his late father, who started Ernie's in 1956. Today the company boasts 33 employees and 20 trucks, all kept close to show truck condition.

"We're fussy about keeping all our trucks looking good," Vole says. "That's something I learned from my dad. He was a fanatic about keeping the equipment looking good."

Ernie's, located about 30 miles north of Chicago, serves a 150-mile radius, including parts of Wisconsin. He earns roughly $125 an hour to tow a tractor-trailer, and upwards of $425 an hour for a tricky job like righting an overturned cement mixer.

"This truck might sit for two weeks, then sometimes it's called out every day," Vole says. With its focus on heavy rescue recovery, it's hard to believe this truck goes from the dirtiest of jobs to truck shows.

"I was once disqualified from a working tow truck show because the judges couldn't believe a truck that looked this good was an everyday working machine," Vole says with pride.

Indeed, it takes Vole and his crew two weeks to prepare "It's Showtime" for a competition. The dash and cab of the truck are as shiny as the exterior. Vole proudly shows off the chains and tools stored in the truck, all looking as if they've never worked a day in their lives.

The elbow grease that gets the truck gleaming is paying off: "It's Showtime" won the first-place trophy in the specialty class of the Paul K. Young Memorial Truck Show in 2001 and 2002.

Showtime Specs

• Owner: Ernie Vole, Vernon Hills, Ill.
  
• Company: Ernie's Wrecker Service Inc.
  
• Model: 1999 Peterbilt 378 construction model with 70-ton Century rotator
  
• Engine: 475 hp Cummins
  
• Transmission: 13-speed
  
• Wheels: Alcoa aluminum
  
• Tires: Bridgestone 11 x 24.5 (rear); 11 x 22.5 (front)
  
• Wheelbase: 300 inches