The first thing I thought of when I saw this truck is the popular TV show Welder-up. The Las Vegas-based car builders create extraordinary “rusty” vehicles that look very similar to this truck. However, this 1964 Dodge Power Wagon isn’t a custom creation for a TV show; it is a custom creation by Dodge, Pacific Gas & Electric, and Mother Nature. It can be found here on eBay with a current bid of $2,020. Located in Oakland, California, the truck was originally delivered to PG&E for duty near the Mendocino National Forest. According to the seller, this truck is one of only 311 built to some pretty rugged specifications. Let’s check out more of this beast!
This shot is menacing, isn’t it? Imagine sitting in your smart car and seeing that bumper in your rearview mirror! The ad states that about 135,630 of these trucks were produced in 1964 but only 311 were equipped with a V8, 4-wheel drive, and a 20,000 GVW.
There isn’t a photo of the engine compartment, but there is a link to a driving video in the ad. The seller says the original 318 wide block runs strong with no leaks. The engine sends power through an NP435 4-speed transmission to a divorced twin-stick transfer case. The truck retains its original Rockwell front axle and Timken rear axle which house ultra-low 6.80 gears. I’m not exactly sure what the hydraulic boom is on the back. Probably for stringing electrical cables? The truck does feature out-riggers for increased side pulling capabilities.
Here you can see the original information plate on this monster. The 20,000 GVW is amazing. A 2022 Dodge Ram 3500 has about half that rating!
Here you can see the ultra-aggressive dual rear tires. They are small versions of tractor tires and would probably propel this truck anywhere it wants to go. What do you think of this one? Is it too big?
I remember these from when my Dad worked for PG&E.
This is a cool truck,if you have a use for it.
Extreme indeed. What this was, is a line truck and the bucket part is missing. “Divorced transfer case”, I’m impressed with the authors wording, even though taken from the ad, I’m not sure many may know what that is. The transfer case to the front axle is separate from the main transmission, hence, a “married” transfer case, is one with the transmission. I doubt you’d see any Smart cars where this is intended to go, strictly off road. Lot of metal here, and with scrap at about $250/ton today, you probably can’t lose. I think we need more pictures of the “Power Wagon” script,,,I guess I shouldn’t complain, it’s better than the 1 or 2 crummy Polaroid pics we used to have.
I am very familiar with the term “divorced transfer cade” as I had a 67 short bed Power Wagon like this. It was originally purchased by Georgia Power Company with a slant six/ three on the tree, but before I bought it someone had converted it to V8/four speed. In the sixties a Dodge Power Wagon half ton pickup was actually a three quarter ton truck. Back then very few people bought four wheel drive trucks to ride around in like they do today.
Man, I’d love to own this beast. To bad it’s on the wrong side of the country. I wonder how long it would take to drive it back to Pa. with 6:80’s it?
Well, it’s about 2800 miles@ 32 mph, is about 2 weeks,,with the hammer down!!
When trucks were trucks. Marvelous beast.
Good tough trucks but I don’t think they can be rougher. Dad had a ‘73 W300 that was indestructible. I bashed my head against the upper window frame, damned near knocked me out while I was driving down the road.
I’m going to guess, by the serial number plate, that this is running a 318 Polyhead. It ain’t a 413 or 426 Wedge but it’s adequate. I’m not sure what axle ratios this is running but ours had 4.88s. With 7.50×16 tires it ran about 3500 rpm at 60 mph which kept it from being a speed demon but it would hold that speed loaded, empty, uphill or down. I doubt that this one would be much different.
Whoever buys this one, wear a helmet…
listing removed from ebay, sold?
I would have absolutely no use for this BEAST of a truck, and no place to park it either. Why do I want it lol?
Listing is still active until Sunday and is currently at $2250.00.
6:80 axle ratio will move medium sized single story buildings right off their foundation
I didn’t see that 6.80 ratio until I read the ad again. I sometimes wonder why they want them so slow. I used ours to feed cattle. I put it in Low Range, and Granny and let it idle. Get up in back and start throwing off bales. Something like this you could farm with…
i recently sold my 72 W-600 which is basically the same truck, although mine had a 361 and front lockouts. I actually never had it on the road so I can only go by what the guy I bought it from said about it. He said it would go almost any place his skid steer would go but it was also about the same speed on the road. Road speed was 45 mph and about 3 mpg. He had a job south of Milwaukee in Franklin and the next job was in West Bend, about 45 miles away. It took almost the whole day and 2 fuel stops. After that it was used only for plowing out his driveway that was close to half a mile long. I hauled it home on my tri-axle trailer behind my 92 W-250. It just fit on the trailer and the front bumper sat higher than the top of the roof of the 92. With 18 inch wide front floats it looked pretty intimidating. I can still remember some of the looks I got and even had someone stop to take a picture while I was stopped along the way to check that the chains were still tight. The guy I sold it to will give it a good home and hopefully he might even see if it will do 50.
That is one scary-looking truck!
I can just imagine the response you would get with this truck at one of the big Mopar events around the country.
A real “Super Duty” truck!