Dodge Power Wagon
It's from 1946, before you were born.
- Iconic generation
- 1946 Dodge Power Wagon (WDX)
- Origin
- USA (Dodge)
- Claim to fame
- First civilian production 4x4 truck
- Engine
- 230 cu in flathead inline-six
- Power
- 94 hp at 3,200 rpm
- Torque
- 185 lb-ft at 1,200 rpm
- Drivetrain
- 4-speed manual, 2-speed transfer case
- On sale
- From March 1946
About
As of 2026, it's 80 years old.
Before SUVs, before the off-road craze, before 'four-wheel drive' was a lifestyle, there was the Dodge Power Wagon — the truck that brought military toughness home from the war. Introduced in 1946 as the WDX, it was the first mass-produced civilian 4x4 pickup, born directly from the rugged trucks Dodge built for World War II.
This was a machine designed to go where roads gave up. With a low-range transfer case, an available power take-off, and a chassis tough enough to shrug off abuse, the Power Wagon could winch logs, run farm equipment, plow snow, and climb out of trouble that would strand anything else.
Power came from a 230-cubic-inch flathead inline-six making a stout-for-its-day 94 horsepower and a mountain of low-end torque at just 1,200 rpm — exactly the kind of unhurried grunt a workhorse needs. It didn't sprint; it conquered.
Farmers, foresters, and firefighters swore by it, and its slab-sided, tall-cabbed silhouette became the very definition of go-anywhere capability. The Power Wagon didn't just start the civilian 4x4 — it wrote the rulebook everyone else is still following.
Dodge Power Wagon through the years
Civilian 4x4 born
The WDX Power Wagon arrives as the first mass-produced civilian four-wheel-drive truck.
Workhorse heart
A 230 flathead six and a power take-off make it a do-anything farm and field machine.
V8 muscle
A V8 option arrives, adding power to the legendary go-anywhere chassis.
Sweptline style
A modernized Power Wagon joins the lineup as the classic flat-fendered version soldiers on.
Name lives on
After decades of duty, the Power Wagon badge endures as a byword for rugged capability.
