10 Wild Facts about Rick's '79 Dodge Macho Power Wagon - Simon & Simon

[Music] hey folks and welcome to carstars 10 wild facts about Rick's 79 Dodge Macho Power Wagon in the 1981 TV series Simon and Simon fact number one there were only two different Dodge trucks used to portray Rick's 1979 Dodge Macho Edition Power Wagon throughout the 8 season run of the show the original Rick's truck that was used for most of season season 1 was an authentic 79 Macho package Power Wagon model however the other truck used was a standard 1980 model Power Wagon pickup modified to look like the original 79 Macho package Power Wagon although the original 79 truck was used as Rick's primary truck for most of season 1 only footage of the original truck taken from season 1 was reused often through the whole series the easiest way to spot which truck you were looking at is by their roll bar differences the 1980 version that was used most often in the show had an aftermarket roll bar with no spotlights on it while the original 79 truck sported the factory roll bar that came with the Macho package and had four KC brand off-roading spotlights attached to it as well fact number two unfortunately 1978 was the cut off for the powerful 440 big block engine so these trucks were powered by 318 or 360 V8 engines outputting less than 200 horsepower the 79 truck ran a four on the floor manual transmission while the 1980 used a three-speed automatic transmission so despite the model's title these specific years of Power Wagons at least were far from powerful with the largest available 360 engine option only generating around 250 ft-lb of torque just imagine how much more fun Rick would have had if it had been an earlier model 440 big block Power Wagon instead fact number three as for the customizations that made this Macho Power Wagon uniquely Rick ride the truck was fitted with a slight suspension lift to allow for those oversized off-road tires in addition the front axle was also reinforced to endure some of the rougher off-roading it performed ever so gracefully in the show another interesting modification Was the removal of the factory chrome plastic grill that was replaced by a more rugged looking black metal mesh screen all of the Dodge name badging was also removed from the truck as well and certainly no one with functioning eyes could miss those massively heavyduty customade thick steel bumpers that didn't even Flinch when smashing through obstacles or even when used as a battering ram into other vehicles fact number four the original Power Wagon truck dates all the way back to 1946 and is essentially a civilian version of the military truck that it was based on which was the Dodge WC series of 3/4 ton military vehicles post World War II Automotive Productions saw a significant Spike of four-wheel drive vehicles in general the public was amazed at what newly available 4x4 Vehicles such as the cj2a Jeep were capable of for both work and recreational purposes the Willies Motor Company's Jeep may have been the first to the table for releasing a mass production 4x4 vehicle but it was Dodge's 1946 Power Wagon that was the first available 4x4 pickup made for the masses and it sure created a lasting impression on the market now the general public had a vehicle with all the Unstoppable off-road capabilities of a Jeep but in a larger more powerful and ultimately more versatile package they could haul around a hefty payload of up to about 3,000 lb as well fact number five despite having a 5-year run of the Macho addition of the power wagons from 1977 through 1981 decent condition examples are hard to come by today the actual production numbers of this era of Power Wagons was lost in a fire at Chrysler in the late '70s so we do not even know exactly how many were made however we do know that the vast majority of the Macho Edition Power Wagons were made from 77 through 79 with 80 and 81 models being more rare also most of the Macho power wagon trucks came with short beds so this means that Rick's original long bed Macho Power Wagon truck is even more rare than most Macho Edition trucks out there if you do happen to come across a low mileage excellent condition Macho package Power Wagon today it'll most likely cost you around the $40,000 Mark to make it yours the most recent example that I could find that sold at auction was this 1977 short bed Macho Edition that sold at a Dallas Texas mikum auction earlier this year for 38,5 $500 fact number six as for the popularity of replicas of Rick Macho Power Wagon there doesn't seem to be a whole lot out there as of today anyways however there are at least a couple of decent publicly seen examples that you'll find picks of on the web if you look hard enough one such example would be this fine Recreation here which is the best looking one I have come across so far and this one here is pretty decently done as well here's another that was based on a 78 model so it's not too accurate Grill wise I suppose the general lack of replicas out there is because for one the show simply wasn't as popular as other shows from the era such as the Fall Guy or The A Team for instance also folks who wanted a similar looking truck to Rex's bad enough most likely just bought a factory Macho package Power Wagon back when they were available and felt that was close enough fact number seven when the Macho Edition for the Power Wagon ended in 1981 the Power Wagon entitled package for the ram in general dissolved along with it however there have been Power Wagon additions of the Dodge Ram in some form ever since the Power Wagon namesake reemerged in 2005 since 2005 there's consistently been Power Wagon packages available for the RAM and this holds true right up to today with the 2024 model Power Wagon that you see here in 2017 was the first year that brought back the classic Macho Power Wagon styling sporting a throwback 1970s style Power Wagon badging on the bedsides and has been a Mainstay for the modern Power Wagon package Ram ever since modern 2024 Power Wagon Edition Rams certainly deserve that power part of the title too as they are equipped with a beastly 410 horsepower 6.4 L Hemi V8 with 429 ft-lb of torque sent through an 8-speed automatic transmission fact number eight the current location of the original screen use 79 truck is unknown for certain but it was last known to still be under Universal's ownership as of the early 2000s anyways the 80 model truck was last known to be under fan ownership as of around the 2011 mark this is the last publicly circulated photo of it we have from back then since even that was over a decade ago hopefully both trucks are still out there somewhere amongst the public and still in one piece they have yet to resurface at any well-known auctions or museums to date if anyone watching this has more info on where the Rick trucks ended up more recently or have VIN numbers or better yet happen to own one of them be sure to let us know in the comments below fact number nine scale model building hobbyists who are fans of Rick's Macho Power Wagon have probably noticed that there is yet to be a model kit of this truck or any power wagon Ram of that generation released as a present so if you want to build an accurate 120 fifth scale model of Rick's truck as the Builder of this impressive model has it would be an expensive and timec consuming Venture unfortunately this is because you need to hunt down multiple tough defined old MPC brand model kits to piece one together for instance this particular example is borrowed parts from at least three vintage model kits such as mpc's little red express a basic long bed D series pickup with wheels and tires from a Tama Toyota Land Cruiser 80 series and custommade Macho decals with custom resin bumpers based on current Ebay listing prices putting a rick Macho Power Wagon model together in this way would easily cost you well over 200 bucks today since those are mostly out of circulation vintage kits now most would not want to take on such a price project so stay tuned for cheaper alternatives fact number 10 when looking into what the diecast model world has to offer for us there's really only one direct replica of Rick's Macho power wagon out there to date that model being this pretty cool and decently accurate for its size 164 scale model from the Hot Wheels retro entertainment series although this model was released back in 2013 it is still in circulation to a degree it's just a bit on the pricey side considering that it is the one and only scale replica of it available so you'll typically find this for around $30 to $50 today other than that if you feel a need for a higher detail model of the same body style of truck at least but a two wheel drive Stepside version minus Rick's Custom Parts being okay with you Auto World does offer an excellently detailed 118 scale 1980 d150 Stepside Pickup with some equally flamboyant decal work for around $80 I will put links in the description to where to purchase these two models if anyone is interested didn't well there you have it folks thanks for watching and make sure to hit that subscribe button if you like what you saw here you guys are all great see you next time

Channel: CarStarz

Views: 130,630

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Id: zF_bqFin_qA

Length: 9min 6sec (546 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 03 2023