The History of the Power Wagon

the power wagon really starts with dodges involvement with world war ii during the war dodge built over two hundred fifty five thousand military trucks all of them were 3/4 ton they came in various body shapes there via command car weapons carrier reconnaissance vehicle as the war was progressing dads realized there's going to be a market out there for a heavy-duty truck that's four-wheel drive that the public can buy not just the military so they began developing a civilian version of the military truck it was the first civilian four-wheel drive vehicle to offer four-wheel drive that vehicle came out in March of 1946 it was called the Power Wagon for civilian use a lot of the customers were utility companies municipalities but also farmers they tried to explain to the farmer that you could hook a plow right onto this truck and pull it into your fields it was also advertised as a mobile power unit with the power take-off units front and rear you could run any sort of farm equipment post hole diggers telephone pole diggers tow trucks you know it's just suited so many different uses the original Power Wagon that came out in 1946 that body style was built domestically until 1968 and then sold internationally under the name Fargo in DeSoto until 1978 so it really didn't change appearance-wise there was a lot of mechanical improvements underneath it upgraded 12-volt they upgraded the engine initially it was a 240 cubic inch engine that grew to 251 cubic inches a few years later so there was mechanical improvements going on all the time but a real change from this vehicle came in 1957 when they introduced the Power Wagon that had civilian sheetmetal now this looked just like any other Dodge truck of the time but it was four-wheel drive so those came in half-ton and 3/4 ton versions so it broadened the power wagon line up and made it more appealing to more people 1970s in 1972 we had a major body style change which really brought the truck to the market as mass appeal that now people were buying trucks not for work but for their daily drivers I think it makes this truck so appealing to help public and everybody else is its longevity it's been there since 1946 it's been on you know we offered until 1980 and had a little break when the RAM came out until 2005 and it's it's just history of four-wheel drive drive dominance

Channel: Stellantis North America

Views: 225,623

Keywords: Automotive history, World War II, Ram Power Wagon, Ram Brand, Dodge Brand, Heavy Duty Trucks, Ram 2500, off-roading, towing, hauling

Id: EtJkbL78rpQ

Length: 2min 51sec (171 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 11 2016