Video: Legacy Classic Trucks Made An Awesome 1949 Power Wagon

I was flipping through videos on automotive builds when I saw this awesome 1949 Dodge Power Wagon built by Legacy Classic Trucks in Driggs, Idaho. Being that I am more of an old-school metal type of person, I found this build very impressive. What caught my eye in the video was the paint job. Simple and clean.

A great stance for on or off-road use.

The paint Anvil Grey is a unique paint color. To accent the paint on the body, the fenders and bumpers are painted glossy black; no chrome on this truck.

Legacy Classic Trucks calls this model the Texas package. It is a four-door cab with suicide rear doors and a long bed. This stretch gives it a 144-inch wheelbase. Standard factory beds were nine feet long.

Inside the cab are four Corbeau captain seats, fitted in distressed gunsmoke leather, and the floor is covered with a grey Mercedes-Benz square weave carpet. Just sitting in the cab looks comfortable. It has all the modern necessities like a XM Bluetooth stereo, cold and hot air by Vintage Air, and modern USB charging.

Key features of the Power Wagon merge an old-school look with a modern look.

Behind the tilt steering column is a traditional six-gauge cluster.  There are front and rear work lights from Rigid, as well as an on-board air compressor, to air up when leaving the back country.  For those cold mornings starts, a grid heater is for this purpose.

Here we see a view of the rear of the truck, Warn winch mount in the bumper, and factory grille and hood.

This truck’s powered by a Cummins 5.9L, 12 valve 350 horsepower engine which is great for everyday driving, four wheeling and even towing. Legacy offers other engine packages if diesel engines are not your thing. With 600-foot pounds of torque, it needs to get to the wheels. It travels through a Chrysler 4C 47RH transmission.

From there, it goes to the NP205 transfer case out to a Dana 60 front axle and a Dana 80 rear axle. Both are running 4.56:1 gears. Power is then transferred through a set of 40-inch Toyo Open Country M/T tires mounted on 17-inch Trailready bead locks. These tires enhance the truck by giving it the move-out-of-my-way look, as well as off-road prowess.

This truck looks great, whether on the street or in the country.

Damping the ride is a set of King coilovers on the front and Bilstein 5100 shocks in the rear. A GM hydro boost controls the steering and braking systems. A Ron Davis aluminum radiator in the bed of the truck (similar to off-road racing trucks) helps with cooling the engine. With this truck working hard towing a trailer, the engine has to stay cool.

In their heyday, these trucks were work horses, and the beds usually got dented or bent. Therefore, Legacy used a recreation bed.  African sapele mahogany wood slats line the base of the bed. It is a hardwood and should last for many years.

Here are the King coilovers, Toyo tires, and Trailready bead locks.

Overall, this truck has a great stance. It looks rugged and the paint makes people take a second look. The owner of Legacy Classic Trucks, Winslow Bent, stated that this took about 3,000 hours to build, with 1,000 just to add the second set of doors and cab section.

However, at a $318,000 price, this truck should last a lifetime. There are many hours of labor for a full frame-off restoration. A project which could take the average person years to do, the Legacy team can do it in 18 months.

Here are the Ron Davis radiator, wood bed, drop down steps, and custom hood latch.

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About the author

Scott Spinning

Scott has been freelancing as a motorsports photojournalist for 38 years. he has been published in several national magazines also in a local and national tabloid. He loves the smell of racing fuel and the sound of a large horsepower engine roaring.
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