The owner of this 1974 Dodge Power Wagon has named it Brutus, and for my money that seems like a pretty decent name for it. If you would like to own Brutus, you can find it advertised for sale here on eBay. Located in Vallejo, California, it is listed for sale with a clear title. At the time of writing, bidding had reached $3,001, but the reserve hasn’t been met.
This Dodge looks to be a solid and honest truck, and the owner is quite candid about its strengths and weaknesses. This shot shows the only obvious rust, and even that doesn’t look too bad. There are a few dings and dents that the new owner may choose to address, but none of these require urgent attention. There are several shots of the underside of the vehicle, and it all looks to be completely solid. The owner describes the bed as “well used”, and that seems like a fair assessment. One thing that will probably require attention is the windshield. It is cracked on the passenger side, but replacements are relatively cheap.
The interior is in about the right state for a well-used truck of this age. The seller states that the seat is really comfortable, but will require a new cover. There is some damage to the door trims, mainly on the armrests, and there are a couple of cracks in the dash pad. Otherwise, apart from the aftermarket wheel, the rest of the interior looks to be original.
Power for the Dodge comes from a 360ci V8 backed by an automatic transmission. The truck comes with power steering and power brakes. The brakes are pulling one way, so will need to be checked. It also features dual fuel tanks and rides on new rims and tires. The seller feels that the tires are probably too big, as they do rub with the steering on full lock. He had intended to fit a lift kit which would address this but has not gotten to that.
This Dodge Power Wagon is a driver and is not a trailer queen. It is a solid 4WD that can be used every day. The 360 engine will provide mountains of torque that will take it most places with ease, and it has a tow hitch which would allow it to be an effortless towing vehicle. With prices for good examples of the ’74 Power Wagon starting at around $7,500, it will be interesting to see where the auction on this one goes. It appears to be an honest truck that won’t need a huge amount of work or cash to make it really nice. I think that there’s definitely some potential in this one.
Ugh, here we go with the truck names again, my pet peeve. Brutus was Popeyes nemesis, this is just a good ol’ HD truck. No chilled cup holders, no adjustable suspension, NO A/C? Oh, the torture. This is what was, is, and always should be what a pickup truck is all about. Not a car with a box. S. Cal. is about the only place you’ll find something like this. People up north are VERY Dodge loyal, and would kill for something like this, as all theirs are behind the barn with a plow and no body. Better be quick with this one, as some flipper will grab it and double their money up north.
I agree with you Howard this is a man’s truck from the good old days. My FIL would kill for a Power Wagon, he was a Ford guy until he bought his first one in the early 70’s and owned three after that. He daily drove them along with hauling construction materials to remodel his house and plowed his driveway with them. This is a nice old truck and if the reserve isn’t too high someone will get a deal.
Hi I have a 74 Dodge Adventurer looking to sell it needs work I’m here in Folsom.
Send it in and we will feature it on the site!
Awesome looking Power Wagon. I remember when Dodge trucks looked like this. I find them way more attractive than what’s being offered today. The only thing I’d do is install a Cummins 4BT Diesel engine under its hood.
Why in the world would you want to put a 4bt 4-cylinder diesel in it that’s only a hundred and five horsepower and 265 lb of torque,maybe the 4bta is what you ment🤔
Possibly. I regret that I’m not familiar with the engine. What’s the displacement size?
Trucks like this one are hot here in Central Florida. Judging from what I’ve
seen here over the last 30 years, the
owner of this truck could sell it here for
between $10K-$15K. I say this because
I’ve seen used car lots charge as much
as $35K for an ’06 Dodge Ram 1500
with a badly dented body and nearly
300K miles on the clock. That’s cheap
when brand new trucks like a Ford F-150
are selling for $100K in standard form
with no options at all! So Brutus here
is a real bargain–except for the mounds
of cash you’d spend getting him here.
Still a nice honest truck that will find a
good home–just not in my driveway.
I agree! Better than paying $30,000 for a new truck and it’s easy to work on!
Dang, I better sell my 04 Ram1500 4×4 with 5,7 hemi in Central Florida then…Only has 120K miles and drives great, I would happily sell it for 30K.
Not really, I like it too much, not selling it…
This one for sale looks cool, would be fun truck to have.
No way that a standard F150 is selling for 100k. Did I read that right?!?!
I guarantee you, no standard F-150 “with no options” sells for $100 grand in the us. A “base model” Limited
F-150 super crew (the top model in the lineup) is about $67,000. Even stepping up to a base F-450 Limited super crew will only set you back about $86,000. Come north of the border, and an F-150 will top $80 CDN IF you load it with a bunch of options. An F-450 Limited up here starts at $102,000, but a 150 is no 450…
Our 2016 F-150 Quad Cab 4×4 XLT is almost fully loaded, power everything, electric sliding rear window, heated seats, child proof rear locking doors, PS / PB, A/C, telescopic / tilt wheel and adjustable brake / gas pedals, 6 way electric seats, towing package with trailer assist, backup camera, heated outside mirrors, step and handle in the tailgate, lights and power ac plugs with converter in the bed. It listed for 43K but with Ford’s incentive of 3K and my wife’s workplace discount of 4K we paid 37K. It’s the last new vehicle we intend to buy at our age and so we got everything we wanted and some we didn’t.
Dad used Power Wagons in the oilfield all through the late 40’s and 50’s, then switched to Ford in the 60’s..never did learn why. I’ve always liked these trucks, they just look good..much more so than the 60’s models
Remember the Thermo Quad? Pretty sure that was the name of it. Plastic body on the 4 barrel carb, and they made all the Dodges of this era run awful. Also their electronic ignition was in it’s infancy, and spare ballast resistors, were in every glove box, as they would fail often.
This is a nice looking pick up, I imagine all the problems from it’s early days are long gone. I just can’t stop hearing that starter, cranking and cranking when they wouldn’t start. Or when running, turning a corner, giving it some gas, and “bog, stumble, boom” as the Thermo Quad backfires.
My mom had a thermoquad on her ’79 Scout and it never had a problem in 13 years as a true daily driver.
The thermoquad was one of the best carbs ever made, and the chrysler electronic ignition was stone reliable before the lean burn version came out. The bad ballast resistor story has been blown way out of proportion over the years, and they took all of two minutes to replace.
My St. Bernard’s name is also Brutus and he would look awesome in this workerbe Dodge.But,he would kill me If I sold our 70 GMC shortbox in Orange and White !
Bluto, Popeye fans. Brutus was Caeser’s nemisis. Nice truck.
Close. Bluto and Brutus were the same character. When Popeye was introduced in the ’30’s, he was called Bluto. When King Features took over in the ’50’s, he became known as Brutus.
https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1548/is-popeyes-nemesis-named-bluto-or-brutus/
It is hard to tell but that carb looks like an AFB or an Edelbrock which is a good thing. No A/C kills it for this desert rat
Very cool truck! Look for it at an upcoming Mecum auction, glammed to the tee, selling for $40k or more.
Man’s truck blah blah blah..who honestly doesn’t want AC?
It gets up to 110 degrees here during the summer, so I couldn’t agree more! Vallejo is like 45 minutes away, and cooler than us (Sacramento). Adding a/c would be a must for me.
I have A/C in both our cars and in our newer F-150 but on a older truck like this which would not be daily driven but used as a workhorse around the house I don’t need A/C. My first 5 cars I owned in the late 60’s early 70’s never had A/C and I managed fine.
Growing up in a predominantly chilly region, we rarely saw vehicles with A/C, especially trucks. Of the maybe dozen or so really hot days, you just toughed it out. I suppose in southern climates, an A/C is as important as heat to us in the winter. Still, I say, a car without heat in the north, is much worse than a car in the south without A/C. A/C makes me feel sick for any length of time, but it sure is a relief on a hot day, I’ll admit.
The funniest thing I ever saw was one of these in a local garage that was used in an amateur pull contest…It actually pulled the axle tubes forward until it bound up..,
To the gentleman speaking of Dodge
carbeurators: Theirs was not a thermo-
quad. It was instead the infamous
Lean Burn unit that cost Chrysler many
potential sales when the public found
out how unreliable they were. Now add
to this an electronic ignition system that
shut down when someone behind you
keyed the mike on their CB radio, and
you had the perfect recipe for disaaster.
Almost bought a ’77 newport sedan ’til
I looked at the engine and saw the Lean
Burn emblem on the breather. The seller
told me she’d drop the price to $50 just
to get it out of her yard! She wound up
scrapping it after no takers could be
found. The car had just 20K miles on
it when junked. Looks like this truck
thankfully doesn’t have it. Anything
with Lean Burn is a POS!
You couldn’t have given her the $50 and plunked a Holley carb on it? What’s a good rebuilt carb go for…a couple hundred bucks? Foolish…
The lean burn system is stupid easy to remove and replace with a conventional distributor and carb , which is what countless Mo’fans have done over the years. I did just that with my 78 New Yorker when I bought it 12 years ago. I used an edelbrock 750 carb with a factory electronic distributor from a 75 model, and it runs great to this day. You can also use an aftermarket electronic distributor.
This truck has the wings in front of the windows that you open to get some air moving in the truck so that is good enough for me if I had the money for this truck
I grew up with the wings in my Dad’s ‘84 F-150. Loved them, as even on a cool day, you could get some fresh air without freezing your buns off.
Very nice truck, and aside from going back to the stock tire size, I would not change anything. I would get far more enjoyment driving this every day, than I would from a new truck.
I grew up with my dad having a 82 Chevy with the 6.2 diesel 2 wheel drive with a 8 foot bed with the wings and I liked them also jett