I thought 1978 was the first official model year for the Macho Power Wagon, but they were starting to be produced in early 1977. Looking pretty good but needing some work, as with a lot of us, this 1977 Dodge W150 Macho Power Wagon would be an eye-catching truck once it’s restored. Or as the seller says, just drive it as is for a cool vintage experience. They have it posted here on craigslist in Newcastle, Wyoming, just west of the South Dakota border, and they’re asking $14,900. Here is the original listing.
There are a lot of small wrinkles and dings in this truck so bring your A-game when it comes time to strip it down and smooth out the cab and box to get it ready for paint. It’ll be worth it as you’ll surely have the only one for most of the 2025 Cars & Coffee-type events. Dodge offered a short box/bed version as well if that’s more your style. Speaking of 1977 style, how about the macho garb back then?
The VIN shows March of 1977 so let’s stick with this being a 1977 model, since other sources list 1977 Macho Power Wagons. Different years had somewhat different graphics, and they were only made until 1981 or ’82, so they’re fairly rare to see today. We’ve seen a few here on Barn Finds over the years, but this bronze color seems to be somewhat unusual. The seller says it’s wearing most of its original paint other than a few touch-ups and they think the roll bar is original. I believe it would have been black or body color rather than silver.
The interior also needs a lot of work as you can see, but a lot of it will boil down to re-upholstering the seats, adding a headliner, and a couple of other things, but overall it looks good inside to me. The bed looks solid and the seller mentions this truck has “very little rust”, and they show a few underside photos – it has surface rust but appears solid.
The VIN decodes to this truck as having had a 360 V8 originally, but the seller says it has a 400-cu.in. OHV V8 now. A similar era 400 would have had somewhere between 185 and 205 horsepower and they say it runs well. With a lot of cosmetic work, this could be a show-stopper. Have any of you owned a Macho Power Wagon? Or, more-importantly, a light blue suit from 1977?
What makes a Power Wagon a “macho” unit? Just a graphics package?
While I can admit to a pale blue suit as I had just entered the office life world, it surely didn’t have lapels that could double as landing strips.
I’m convinced the Safari jackets were even worse…and far more popular. Dad had them…
It’s just a graphics package (albeit a sick one imo). I did hear tell that a sheepskin coat/cowboy duster, cowboy hat and a pair of boots are encouraged to be worn while driving one tho. Because of the implication
Mucho Macho w a stick shift 🙌
Stan- what’s that chrome thing sticking out of the right side of the steering column?
Technically Stan is correct. It is technically a stick shift…… Thats connected to a 727 Torque flight.
( Stan, buddy, I tried…….)🤣🤣🤣
John I was implying it would be more macho w the stick shift. Lol
I believe that this truck has “full time” four wheel drive. As I recall, they tend to use more fuel (not that these are economy vehicles), and, as a result, led to part time four wheel drive conversion kits for the transfer case. I can’t tell if this has been converted.
As someone who has purchased around a dozen Power Wagons over the years, looking at the price of this vehicle made me smile and shake my head. It’s nice being an old man.
I drove I believe it was a 77 Ramcharger with a plow. Full time 4WD. You could not stop that thing. 360, it was stuck in 4 Low for years, had to sray off the highway ( thats what the shifter was for, high and low range). And like I said, couldn’t stop it. No rear defrost, I propped the back glass open with an old snow brush. I remember that old 360 urned about a quart of oil every 2 or 3 hours, but man, what a truck.
In 1983 my brother Dennis bought a 78 Macho Power Wagon off our neighbor. 440 automatic short bed Red in color with black and yellow graphics. The roll bar was red. He jacked that thing up and put 38.5 monster mudders on it. Driving down a muddy road that thing was all over the place while my long bed 77 F150 stayed nice and straight. Thats when I swore I would never own a shortbed truck and so far I have stuck to that. He had transfer case troubles so Dennis and I lifted that thing by hand to put his new used one in, that 203 was a heavy chunk of metal. Still can’t believe some of the crap we was able to do back then. That truck met its end on mothers day of 1987, Dennis fell asleep on his way home after a saturday night out, I was very fortunate that I decided to stay home that night as that truck was destroyed when he hit the culvert. Dennis ended up walking/limping home with a broken ankle and wrist and a mile of cuts and scratches. It may have been a little overkill but the tow truck guys used three trucks to bring all the pieces home. One had the frame cab and rear axle while another had the bed full of small chunks and the other had the front axle and tires. I couldn’t believe it when they only charged $150 for the tow bill. A little side story after he healed up he bought another shortbed, this one was a stepside 73 Dodge that he jacked up and put 38.5’s on and rolled it on september 24 1988. Hiway was wet from rain and he was coming up to a stop sign and hit the brakes and it went sideways and hit the ditch and over it went. I remember the dates because three of us had bad experiences that friday saturday and sunday
Simon and Simon
I agree on the heavy 203. Teen sons and I changed one (74 W100 )in the dirt using a floor jack and a bunch of lifting. Younger and dumber. Agree that the full time, 360 was pretty hard to break. Outlasted the teens. . My dad had a work truck that vintage, trailer pulling, drift busting unit.
This looks like a fun project.