Like many 4x4s, the Power Wagon sprang from wartime development. Conflict in foreign lands meant vehicles had to go anywhere and get back, hopefully in one piece. The civilian rendition of Dodge’s WC military truck, this flat-fendered 1964 WM300 presented here on eBay, is bid to $9550, reserve not met. This Power Wagon is located in San Antonio, Texas, and she runs but doesn’t stop, so watch out ahead. Production of the Power Wagon began in 1945, and Dodge advertised it as a solution for off-road towing and load-carrying. The trucks were assigned numbers to delineate half-ton, three-quarter, and so forth; the WM300 is a one-ton, eclipsed only by the 500-series at two tons. By 1949, Monroe Auto Equipment (Michigan) was making beefy accessories to make the Power Wagon ever more useful, like this lift attachment. To further inspire would-be buyers, Dodge sponsored a movie called Wheels Across South America featuring a trio of Power Wagons trekking through jungles and generally adventuring about.
Apparently, the engine bay turned shy when the seller conducted his photo shoot, but the motor should be a 251 CID six-cylinder generating right around 125 hp. Borg-Warner usually supplied the four-speed manual transmissions, and Dana the two-speed transfer cases. The seller says this truck was found on a dairy farm and as noted she’ll start but is reluctant to stop. The Braden winch is said to be original equipment – a brand now owned by PACCAR. The paint may be original as well. By 1964, the electrical system was 12-volt and the truck used an alternator instead of a generator.
The eight-foot bed has many service years remaining. Early beds were straight sheet metal, with wood flooring and four stake pockets; by 1951 stake pockets went to three and the bed was ribbed. The tailgate is designed with a center support to spread the weight of a load if you slid it over the ‘gate to remove it (like me ‘n hay). These trucks had a wheelbase of 126″ and gross vehicle weight was 9500 lbs. Husky, to say the least.
The cab changed more between 1945 and the early 1950s than it did into the 1960s. In fact, the old-fashioned look of it persisted long after other makers were moving to improve comfort. The only upgrades were available back in 1946, when the “deluxe” version of the cab supplied dual sun visors, a driver-door armrest, vent windows, and a dome light. In a few years, those “options” became standard, and we see them here. Meanwhile, strange things happen in the market for Power Wagons. This one sold for $165,000 in January 2022 at Mecum. If you don’t need the best one in the world, looks like about $30k will do it. This ’64 offers a great start to take either direction: fix the brakes and run it, or go flat out on a restoration. Which route would you take?
I would take the “send it to the local metal scrapper” route
Wish BF had kept that thumbs down button!
👍🏻
Especially when the comment is unnecessarily redundant!
Why? It’s probably a better vehicle than your Tesla.
Or toyota
It would be a grave expensive mistake to trash this truck! To anyone thinking that’s the right decision I suggest you go online and try to buy one, it will be a wake up call to put it mildly!
Yup, just saw a stunning identical one, same year and model in grey on black SOLD on classicd0tcom for 165k. You could pump 50k into that and still more than double your money. And these are not rocket science to restore. Bog standard truck.
I love the old Power Wagons ! Having said that the prices ( like a lot of things ) have gone crazy! I would love to restore this old girl.
Repower with a Cummins and go from there !
Replacement brakes, wheel cyl, lines, hoses, master cyl.bearings and seals will run 2 K if self installed, once brakes are done, the work will go on. Pre 73 Trucks are valuable $$$%
Repowering would void the meaning of “restore”.
Currently @ $13,000 with 9 hrs left.
If the new owner gets it for $15,000 or less they’ve hit the jackpot IMHO, even with the work required to make it roadworthy.
All the glass is there (rough, but intact judging by the photos), it runs and the tinworm lost its appetite after chewing its way through the body under the passenger door.
C’mon, MegaMillions/Powerball/SuperLotto, I need this truck!!!
I love the idea of swapping in a Cummins with a modern 6 speed manual transmission, but other than that, I’d restore the rest of it to original specs and enjoy showing it off. These old Powerwagons are nearly indestructible, they were waaay overbuilt for military use and can take some serious abuse. This would be the ultimate farm/camp/mountain truck that you can take anywhere and not have to worry about getting stuck.
Little bit of a tangent- when I was in the army the 2nd time and we were loading all our heavy equipment onto the train for shipment to a port and then Iraq, we had a similar truck to this one- a “deuce and a half” that had a monster turbo diesel and ran really well. It was built in 1955 and only had around 11k miles on it, still ran like new. I loved driving that truck on Ft Leonard Wood and Ft Hood, hearing the turbo spool up was music to my ears. I would’ve loved the opportunity to buy it when we got back, because we were replacing all our vehicles with new ones when we got back. But the army neglected to inform us that we were leaving all our vehicles and equipment in Iraq for the follow-on units that were replacing us! I have no idea what became of that equipment after the military pulled out in 2010-2011, but someone got a very nice deuce and a half out of the deal!
These old military trucks are becoming more collectible nowadays, which means the prices have been steadily climbing out of range for us mere mortals. But if someone gets this Powerwagon for $15k or less, they’re getting a great old truck at a good price.
There’s a company devoted to making these mules better than new, updated, for those that would drive them off-road as much as on road
SOLD. $14,999!!
Someone made out like Pancho Villa on the Mexican Army payroll train…