What ever you do, don’t ask me what year this truck is. The Dodge Power Wagon long transcended such mere mortal trivialities. I wasn’t planning on this CC, but it so perfectly epitomizes one of the key personality traits of Chrysler, as so well embodied in the 1951 Plymouth Cranbrook: the kind of anvil-tough products America was once famous for. But the Power Wagon makes even the Cranbrook look like a mayfly in comparison. These military-grade trucks were built with only the subtlest of improvements for over thirty years. This one could well be sixty years old, and it’s getting freshened up a bit for the next sixty.
The Power Wagon was heavily based on the Army’s 3/4 ton WW2 truck. Like Jeep, Dodge figured it might as well try to make some more money from their very profitable war-time contracts after the fighting ended. They grafted on a civilian Dodge pickup cab, and built an eight-foot bed specifically for the PW. The 126″ chassis, 4-speed transmission, transfer case and the 230 CID flat head six were essentially carry-overs, and had more than proven themselves.
That veritable monolith of a motor had its origins in the original Plymouth six of 1933. The PW used the “long block” Dodge version, and after 1961, had 250.6 cubic inches. The truck version that went into the PW had heavy duty components and full oil filtering and full pressure oiling. There is no American engine that I can think of that has a better rep for toughness than these.
Their virtue was not horsepower, but grunt. Maximum torque on these engines was developed at 1600 rpm, thanks to little 3.25″ bores and a mammoth 4.63″ stroke (for the 230). In off-road situations the PW so excelled in, that was perfect. On the highway? It would probably do fifty or so, because of the gearing. Interstates and Power Wagons are mutually exclusive.
The PW stayed in the Dodge catalog right through 1968, but exports continued through 1971, and some were assembled as late as 1978, with slant six engines.
Power Wagons chassis were fitted with a wide array of bodies, including fire engines and station wagons/school buses for those roadless areas. Now that’s a woody that warms my blood.
The PW featured here is undergoing a very leisurely restoration. One of these days, years, decades or centuries, we’ll check back in again and revel in its youthfulness.
Beautiful old trucks. They look great restored but look beautiful with a patina of age and scars of use..
What a great home for an orphaned Cummins
I was actually picturing it a Detroit 4-53t. That’d be one scary ride with a Screamin Jimmy!
It’s probably a 1950 or later as it looks like it must be a 4-blade fan. The earlier models had a 6-blade per Allpar; the underhood picture has too big a gap for there to be more than 4 blades on the fan.
The old saying out West was that a Power Wagon could get through or past anything but a gas pump.
Back when the Hummer was conceived (before it needed to be a rolling bomb bunker like it is now) there were a few commentators that thought the Army should have simply purchased all the remaining Power Wagons out there and gave them Cummins turbo diesel engines.
There was one of these in Williamsburg, Missouri. A little over 20 years ago, my brother-in-law had 10 acres of property out there with a small pond that needed dredging. A guy in town showed up with a converted military power wagon – open top, Jeep-type door openings – no doors with a large derrick on it with a bucket. He would swing the derrick out over the water and drop the bucket and reel it in and the teeth on the busket would clean out everything in it’s path. A very old, but impressive machine, indeed! Tough as nails, WW2 vintage.
Len Deighton wrote that the toughness of American military vehicles was the envy of both friend and foe. As he pointed out, American civilian delivery trucks of the era had to suck up a thousand miles of rough North American roads at a stretch and come back for more. One of the most treasured prizes for the Germans on the Eastern Front was to capture Lend-Lease vehicles from the Soviets, regardless of brand–GMC, Studebaker, Dodge, Jeep, as well as the British Bedfords.
Another epiphany–even for the British–was the ease with which American trucks could be maintained. Replacement parts just bolted on, without massive applications of rattail files and sweat.
I have a friend who has one of these. I’m sure he told me the ’41 is the only one with the steep nose on it.
Yes, the yellow truck is an early military WC 1/2 ton model with the larger wheels and tires from a 3/4 ton mounted. Not, strictly speaking, a Power Wagon, but the DNA is apparent.
I would give one of my kidneys for that wood bodied wagon. The Jurassic SUV.
I have one of these machines and is complete. Looks like about a one ton, 6 cly Dodge, with winch on the front and open top, two seats, 16 inch tires, deep box on the back and has a pto shaft going to the rear. If anyon wants to see a picture email me and I will be happy to send them on to you. This machine should be restored. What a history in this truck….. Thanks LeGrande Lamb
I wouldn’t mind one with a Cummins under the hood. It would likely give a Unimog a run for its money.
Apart from the cummins diesel, also add bilstein shocks, revamp the suspension and give that old Dodge the needed repairs it deserves. That way you can have a handy and reliable truck that you use as a service vehicle at 1/3 that cost of a new one. Also they are cheaper to insure.