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Legacy Classic Power Wagon First Drive

Shortly before the US entered World War II, Dodge supplied the military with a line of pickups internally codenamed WC, those letters designating the year 1941 and the half-ton payload rating. From 1941 to 1945 Dodge built more than a quarter million of them, and even though "WC" came to refer to the Weapons Carrier body style, the WC range served in 38 different configurations from pickup trucks to ambulances to six-wheeled personnel and weapons haulers. The story is that soldiers returning from active duty badgered Dodge for a civilian version of that indefatigable warhorse, so Dodge responded with the Power Wagon in 1946. Even for those no-nonsense times the truck was so austere that the first three names Dodge gave it were "Farm Utility Truck," "WDX General Purpose Truck," and "General Purpose, One Ton Truck." "Power Wagon" was the fourth choice, not finalized until just before it went on sale. Nothing like today's Power Wagon, the original could be seen as either a glorified tractor or a slightly less uncouth military vehicle – hell-for-leather meant going 50 miles per hour. But it would go nearly anywhere. The civilian version was still built like it had to survive, well, a world war; power take-offs (PTOs) ran all manner of ancillaries; multiplicative gear ratios helped it produce enough torque to make an earthquake envious. Said to be the first civilian 4x4 truck made in America, any organization that needed a simple, sturdy mechanized draught animal knew it needed a Power Wagon. If history, the aura of war, and ruthless functionality attract you but mean comforts and 70-year-old manners don't, then you need to get in touch with Legacy Classic Trucks. If that history, the aura of war, and the ruthless functionality attract you but the mean comforts and 70-year-old manners don't, then you need to get in touch with Legacy Classic Trucks. The Jackson Hole, WY, restorer retains every ounce of the Power Wagon's orchard-work aptitude, decorated with present-day amenities and the best components. Each job starts with having to find a usable donor. The city of Breckenridge, CO, bought the red truck in our gallery in 1947 and used it as a snowplow for the next 30 years. In 1977 a log-home builder bought it from the city and used it for another decade as a company hauler. That's the kind of grueling longevity that lets Ram put a five-figure premium on the 2500 Power Wagon pickup it sells today. Legacy Classics founder Winslow S.

The Walter P. Chrysler Museum is shutting down permanently this December

It is with disappointment that we report the Walter P. Chrysler Museum in Auburn Hills, MI, will be closed down permanently at the end of this year. The museum, which closed in 2012 after not being able to cover costs, was recently reopened to the public on alternating weekends starting in June, but Chrysler made the decision to shutter it altogether after its final day of operation on December 18, 2016. The reason for this is primarily because FCA needs more office space, and the company decided to convert the museum for that purpose. The the cars will be moved to storage after the closure, and they'll be shown at various events. However, they'll only be able to be seen together for two more weekends. Those weekends include those of November 19 and 20, and December 17 and 18. The museum will be open from 10 am to 4 pm on those days. If you can, we highly recommend visiting the museum. Adults get in for $10, seniors and retired FCA employees for $8, kids between 6 and 17 for $6, and kids under 5 for free. It also has some fantastic cars including concepts from the 1950s to the 2000s, oddball performance vehicles such as the Omni GLH-S, and of course plenty of fascinating history. And if it makes any difference to you, there's even a purple Plymouth Prowler you can sit in. Just make sure you don't wait too long to make up your mind about visiting. Related Video:

Dodge Viper to out-Hell the Hellcat with supercharged V10?

The Viper wouldn't be the Viper if it wasn't the most powerful model under the Chrysler umbrella. But with the arrival of the Hellcat engine in the Dodge Charger and Challenger, the Viper has fallen behind in the bragging rights department: where the new supercharged V8 produces 707 horsepower and 650 pound-feet of torque, the naturally aspirated V10 offers "only" 640 hp and 600 lb-ft - gargantuan output figures by almost any other standard, but crucially behind on the SRT power scale. Conner Avenue is going to have to do something about that.
Although the Hellcat's engine reportedly won't fit under the Viper's hood, SRT is now rumored to have another trick up its sleeve: supercharge the existing V10. According to the Pentastar performance enthusiasts at allpar.com, Chrysler has already taken delivery of the first such prototype engines so that it can begin the process of fitting it into an upgraded Viper.
The spooled ten-pot is tipped to produce around 800 hp and 650 lb-ft of torque. More than that and the Viper's drivetrain, chassis and bodywork would have to be substantially reworked. Though beefier transmissions are available, fitting them would reportedly set off a domino-game of changes required to handle the added torque. Which may be something Chrysler would be prepared to do for the next-generation model, but in the meantime, 800 hp could prove enough to put the Viper back atop the Mopar performance ladder where it belongs, and give it an edge against the new Corvette Z06 to rekindle sales.