Cummins-Swapped 1949 Dodge Power Wagon Restomod Merges Old Glory With New Tech

Vintage vehicles have an almost mystical power to bring eras you never experienced back to life—there’s simply no substitute for the way they look, vibrate, or even smell. At the same time, their old-school engineering can’t compete with the utility of modern tech; flathead engines can’t deliver the 1,000 pound-feet of torque or fuel mileage that a modern Cummins turbodiesel can, and you can’t Hey Siri your favorite album into an AM radio. But if you have the wherewithal, you can bring both together in a single, scintillating package, like Legacy Classic Trucks has done with its resto-modded 1949 Dodge Power Wagon.

Across a more than 2,000-hour build, Legacy retouched practically every component of this Power Wagon to make it a more livable, more modern machine, all without sacrificing the intangibles that set it apart from a 2020 Ram. At its heart is a 3.9-liter, twin-turbo Cummins 4BT four-cylinder that produces 350 horsepower and 600 pound-feet of torque, which gush downstream through a five-speed manual transmission. Carefully chosen gear ratios are said to give this 7,500-bound behemoth both a “respectable” zero-to-60 time and the ability to cruise comfortably at 80 mph.

And with leather seats, a modern HVAC system, and German carpeted floor mats, the Legacy Power Wagon is an inviting road-tripper. A Bluetooth stereo can still play that AM radio station, but also the Johnny Cash discography from your phone, which can stay topped up from one of several USB ports. It’s not all 2020 within, though—the steering wheel is made from wood polished to a glow, and the gauges are all period-correct.

This Power Wagon ain’t no softie highway cruiser, though—it’s still ready for rough terrain with Dana 60 axles, ARB locking differentials, and Warn locking hubs. Bead-lock wheels clamp on to 40-inch, all-terrain Toyo tires, giving it the ground clearance and traction to tackle even the toughest trails. Should all this somehow come up short, there’s also a Warn winch mounted to the front bumper.

Legacy’s Power Wagon ticks every box a truck can, combining capability with coziness; radiance with ruggedness. As you’d expect, assimilating all these attributes in a single package will cost you the contents of a piggy bank the size of a prize-winning porker—the price tag hanging from its mirror reads $350,000. Such is the cost of craftsmanship, and if you consider yourself a patron of the arts (and make no mistake, a truck can be art), you can plan your trip to Jackson Hole, Wyoming to see this beauty in person… If not take it home.

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