First Drive: This Modern Pickup Truck Packs a Nostalgic Punch

Back in 1948, if you needed a no-frills, tough-as-nails, 4×4 pickup to work the farm or construction site, you bought yourself a Dodge Power Wagon. Born from the original military versions that were the workhorses of World War II, this blunt instrument of a truck was a master at getting the job done.

Time, however, hasn’t been kind to Dodge’s early utility vehicle. Most were used, abused, and left to rust away when they broke. Their sheer size, bulk, and glacial performance also made them unappealing to collectors looking for a restoration project.

Yet all that changed when Aaron Richardet took an interest. Two years ago, he acquired Phoenix-based Desert Power Wagons, relocated it to his home base in rural Castle Hayne, N.C., and set about developing a handcrafted, $385,000-and-up tribute to Dodge’s humble brute.  

When sitting up high behind the wood-rimmed wheel of Richardet’s latest creation, a metallic midnight-blue four-door, it becomes easy to appreciate the 2,400 hours of labor, the nine-to-12-month build process, and the mountain of custom parts that go into each of these projects.

Despite the truck’s old-school look, each example is new from the ground up. The bare-metal steel body and chassis are supplied by an Indiana-based fabricator, Tisdale Coachworks. You can choose from a two-door long-bed cab, or the more practical four-door short-bed version. And with the four-door configuration, there’s the option for rear-hinged coach doors at the back, such as those found on a Rolls-Royce.

The body is bolted to an I-beam-stiff, powder-coated box-frame chassis with four-link custom suspension featuring off-road coil-over springs from Eibach Race, and King adjustable shocks at the front and rear. Feeding the power to all four wheels is a heavy-duty Borg Warner shift-on-the-fly transfer case and massive Dana solid axles. The challenge becomes finding a mountain this 4×4 won’t climb.

Giving the Power Wagon its monster-truck stance is a set of matte-black, 20-inch Method rims with super-knobby, 37-inch-tall Maxxis Razr off-road tires. Huge Wilwood brakes, with 16-inch rotors and six-piston calipers up front, take care of stopping.

Powering the beast is a stump-pulling, 6.7-liter Cummins straight-six turbo diesel, typically sourced from a donor Dodge Ram 2500 and completely rebuilt. It’s mated to a six-speed automatic transmission. The Cummins is good for 385 hp and 930 ft lbs of torque. Peterbilt 18-wheelers have less.

Not a fan of diesel power? Richardet has other options from the Dodge stable, including a supercharged 6.2-liter Hemi from a Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat—packing 717 hp and 656 ft lbs of torque—or the base 410 hp 6.4-liter Hemi V8.

The entire package reflects the mission statement for these projects, which is that they should comport themselves as daily drivers. We grab the keys to the test truck at Desert Power Wagon’s quirky headquarters. There’s nothing fancy here; a ragtag collection of buildings houses a team of 28 employees that split time working on the Power Wagons and Richardet’s multitude of other ventures. Among the latter is Osprey Custom Cars, which takes a similar approach to classic Land Rover Defender 90 and 110 models.

Power-deploying side steps make climbing into the Power Wagon a breeze. Inside, you sit in breaker’s yard Cadillac CTS-V front seats with a custom, three-across bench in the rear. The roomy cabin is upholstered in glove-like tan leather, though, as with everything in the truck, the trim can be completely customized by the owner.

The dash is bare-bones metal with a few modern touches, such as the nine-inch touchscreen for the Rockford Fosgate audio, and a somewhat gimmicky 12-inch overhead split screen that gives three rearward views from external cameras. We’d much prefer a regular rearview mirror, even if the back window is teeny.

No prizes either for the vintage-style instruments, which seem overly small for such a behemoth. And as for that fancy wood-rimmed wheel, it seems more suited to a classic Ferrari. A banjo-spoke wheel with a Bakelite rim would better keep to the Americana aesthetic. But then again, your choice.

At least there’s an old-fashioned key to twist when firing up the power plant. And fire up it does, with an explosion of diesel clatter and a breathy induction roar that sends shimmying vibrations through the cab. Pull down the column shifter into “drive,” step on the throttle, and the Power Wagon powers off the line with unabated urgency.

For a truck taking up this much real estate on the road, it carves curves with surprising precision. The Ram-sourced power-steering setup is nicely weighted, though it’s hindered by a strange dead spot in the straight-ahead position that requires constant correction. It’s a little like steering a boat, or in this case, a freighter. And those huge tires at each corner, and long-travel coils, do an impressive job of soaking up lumps and bumps. Even over the most potholed dirt track, the truck delivers an impressively smooth ride.

While this modern throwback is a blast to drive, it’s not for anyone who doesn’t enjoy attention. Everywhere we went, other motorists jockeyed for position to get close enough for a photo or to give a thumbs-up. As for parking, that almost requires Beyoncé levels of security to keep back the curious, and expect any coffee stop to involve at least 15 minutes of answering questions.

According to Richardet, his clients “are all collectors . . . looking for something ultra cool, ultra rare, and a little industrial,” noting also that four of his Power Wagon builds have been delivered and five more are on order. That, however, was before our midnight-blue test truck was sold just days after we returned the keys.

Click below for more photos of this Desert Power Wagon.