Last month I posted a Drive-By Outtake of three older Dodge trucks from the street and while this truck was only pictured from head-on, JP Cavanaugh immediately wondered if it was an example of the relatively rare Town Wagon, a model with which I was not at all familiar with at the time. When I had the chance to pass by the area again, sure enough, that’s what it was.
Access to the site was difficult and it was clear that there was to be no trespassing on the property that the truck sat on, however I was able to carefully walk on the neighbor’s lot and quickly fire off a couple of shots from a distance at which time I was struck just how well this Dodge is starting to assimilate into its surrounding, the paint and patina are blending perfectly with the background. And the tree in the foreground, no way around that.
The Town Wagon first appeared for 1956 as a development of the Town Panel of 1954 to compete with the Suburban and Travelall that were starting to see some popularity for transporting people. The next year, 1957, Dodge decided to put it on top of the W100 Power Wagon underpinnings when that was introduced in order to provide a 4WD option to go along with the standard Town Wagon. The W100 Power Wagon was generally considered a pretty heavy duty machine and really closer to a 3/4ton than a 1/2ton as was delineated by the actual W100 nomenclature.
However when Dodge then revamped the Sweptline pickup truck line for 1961 there was not a new Town Wagon developed, instead it curiously soldiered on with the old body adapted to the new platform. To do so, they had to rejigger the front end to accommodate the 6″ wheelbase stretch. This one does not have that (evidenced by the rear of the front wheel well being almost at the door edge), but does have a Power Wagon badge so that makes this a 1957-1960 model. The 1957’s had different front sheetmetal, the 1960 had a different grille and I believe I see more ’59 cues than ’58 ones so I’ll call it a 1959.
These didn’t really sell very well to the general public but government agencies snapped them up, this one may be an old Forest Service truck or something similar. The whole line continued through 1966 and was then discontinued as the competition got stronger, more determined, as well as more refined. When Dodge decided to get back in the game, of course eventually this basically morphed into the RamCharger of which the owner had two examples in his yard as well, i.e. a true believer.
It’s too bad that Dodge didn’t really grab the ram by the horns and really go with it at the time and never really developed the RamCharger particularly much either for that matter. While the current Jeep and RAM divisions are doing quite well, who knows what could have been had there been a Power Ram Wagon or similar in all of these decades since, perhaps automotive history would have taken some different turns.
Ran when parked. What were the engine choices in this beast?
It appears that the old flathead 6 or the 318 V8 were the options. The flathead stayed in the 1960 trucks (per Allpar), but I imagine that the slant six took over in 61 (though this is a guess, and guesses with Dodge trucks of this vintage are often wrong).
Actually the 57 and 58 had a 315, then they went to the 318
318 polly
These were always head scratchers to me. The Sweptline would have made a good basis for a vehicle like this, but it was not to be. I imagine that with finances in the toilet around the time the Sweptline came out and with Lynn Townsend (Mr. Volume) taking over in 62, a niche vehicle like this was never going to see the light.
Chrysler somehow justified keeping both this and the Power Wagon (with it’s old flathead six) in production through much of the 60s – how odd.
How both Dodge and Ford avoided the market that Chevrolet eventually came to profitably corner in the 80s-90s is a mystery. I was certain that Dodge would build a Suburban-clone after the 1994 pickup, but nope.
Living near the border with Mexico, I did once see a mid-’90s era Ramcharger (short wheelbase, 4 wheel drive) looking thing with Mexican plates. I don’t know if it was factory or some sort of homebrew job. The body work guys down there can be really creative and capable at times.
That was actually a factory job. https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fblog.consumerguide.com%2Ftoo-spicy-for-america-the-mexico-only-1999-2001-dodge-ramcharger%2F&psig=AOvVaw1jbcQTD_Os5k4jK_TyUJFH&ust=1606764630464000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CA0QjhxqFwoTCNCe1O–qO0CFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD
They did look at a step-roof Sweptline panel – basically a cap on the pickup bed. But. Since they were already working on the A100, I guess they figured it wasn’t worth the effort. Also guessing foreign military sales were the only thing keeping the Power Wagon line open.
Here’s the prototype.
OK, not sure what’s going on, but I can’t upload pics.
The pics may be too large. Try reducing the size — I usually reduce them to a max. of 1,200 pixels in the bigger dimension. That usually uploads.
Yeah, I agree, especially in a time frame where Chevrolet couldn’t come up with an original idea for anything certain taking a lot of ideas from dodge & Chrysler.
I stopped working to see what I can find regarding engines. Tough job. I was able to glean that Town Wagons offered the 1932 flat-head L-6 and a V8. Which V8, I do not know. When the Slant six and the 318 V8 became available, they were used in Town Wagons. Transmissions include, as best as I can determine, a three-speed manual, a four-speed manual, an automatic and with the manual shifts a two-speed rear axle. However, that two-speed in the rear might have been an add-on as I was unable to understand from the writer of the web site if he head added it or if it was a Dodge option. Anyone of us in the CC Family who can get more information, please let us know.
Just to clarify: there were also non-Powerwagon Town Wagons too. The Powerwagon of course was the 4×4 version.
Yes, thanks, I updated the text a bit to make more clear.
Last flathead powered truck sold here ?
The WM300 Powerwagon would have been the last one, sold in the US through 1968, but exported through 1971. Came only with the 250 flathead six.
I thought they exported these through 1980 under the MAP.
The ‘military’ style civilian Power Wagon used the 230 small block flathead 6 from 1946 to 1961. In 1962, the large block 251 flathead 6 became the only available engine in the WM300. I believe the ‘Dodge Truck’ 251 was based on the Chrysler/DeSoto flathead 6. As far as I have been able to find out, the 251 was used in the WM300 until sometime around 1971, at which time a heavy duty version of the 225 Slant 6 was used. I have personally never seen any post 1968 WM300’s, so I can’t say with absolute certainty if/when the 225 was used in those trucks. I remember the Dodge Truck parts catalogs listed the WM300’s until 1979 as export-only, and according to the catalogs they had the 225 and were only available as a chassis/cowl model.
I never did a full write-up, but a few years back I had a guy working for me that had a truly awesome Town Panel (but with windows).
Healthy 360, and a few other mods, but mostly original. I drove it once; quite the bear.
You did a post on the trailer, right? I seem to remember that or something similar, I thought something about this rig looked vaguely familiar. Wouldn’t that be a Town Wagon though? Maybe he removed the rear seats.
That’s the one. it’s clearly badged Town Panel. I assume the windows were an option for that.
What a sad waste of these trucks. R.I.P.
I was working for a state agency (correctional, rather than forest service) in the late 1960s-early ’70s and once had to transport some people using, if I recall correctly, a Power Wagon. I had thought my memory was wrong, because all of the Power Wagons I have seen on the web were pickups. But this one seems to be like the one I drove. My only real recollection was that the truck (had seats in it) had a fantastic second gear. I was so impressed by that; it could run way up in that gear and was, IIRC a spritely vehicle.
I have 62 Dodge d100 panel truck, factory /6 tree speed been in my town since new. Originally a laundry delivery vehicle. Other truck in the deal was a 64 town wagonl ambulance, siren ,spotlights, two tone, 318. Sadly i sold that one of the two to finance the panel
I caught one (PWTW) at a car show a few years ago, written up here (scroll down a bit):
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cc-capsule/car-show-capsules-a-cornucopia-of-classics-at-cars-coffee-dibs-on-the-dodge/