The top of a mountain is an inhospitable place. The higher the peak, the less accommodating the climes. When the brothers of the Order of Carthusians purchased 7,000 acres at the top of Mount Equinox in Sandgate, Vermont, the men of peace were headed into war with nature—including the building of two hydroelectric dams to power their monastery, the Charterhouse of the Transfiguration. To subdue their new home, which opened in 1960, they would need not guns and bombs, but at least military-spec equipment to match the elements atop Vermont’s tallest mountain.
Luckily, previous attempts at investigating the hydroelectric potential of the Vermont wilderness meant the brothers had already visited the Dodge dealer in Greenfield, Massachusetts, where they ordered up the latest version of a one-ton, 4×4 truck Dodge had been producing nonstop since 1942: The Power Wagon. Originally created for the military during World War II, the Dodge Power Wagon was treated to glossy paint and civilian equipment after the war, but retained its no-nonsense, no-frills workhorse nature to an even greater extent than the Willys Civilian Jeep.
Consider that, by 1956, the Jeep already had softened its styling and introduced an overhead-valve engine. Dodge offered a “Power Wagon” to customers like that, based on its civilian trucks, but hadn’t compromised the original one bit—including the retention of a cab that debuted back in 1939. The essential differences of this military-style 1956 Power Wagon from its 1945 equivalent boiled down to the 12-volt electrical system (a late-year introduction not present on all ’56 models), additional gauges, some tweaks to the bed sheetmetal, and a New Process SM 420 four-speed manual transmission that was synchronized in its upper gears.
You would not have mistaken the brothers’ Power Wagon for a military model when it was new, however, as its original finish was Bermuda Coral—pink. That oh-so-‘50s hue would be a hoot to see on a Power Wagon today, but given that owner/restorer Gerald “Jerry” Mattison, of Glastonbury, Vermont, is a Vermont State Fire Warden, it’s easy to understand why he chose Pontchartrain Green, another 1956 Dodge color he had mixed up in Mason single-stage urethane and sprayed on one piece at a time by the obliging Bodywerks in Shaftsbury, Vermont. The green-and-black scheme perfectly complements Jerry’s mania for Forest Service collectibles, including a period axe, Pulaski and water pump he mounted to the truck, and a passion for the heritage of Smokey the Bear, USFS’s long-time mascot for forest-fire prevention.
“I spent countless hours sourcing the period-correct Smokey Bear image and USFS logos which were painted and installed by White Rocks Design, in Bennington, Vermont,” Jerry says. The color change was a relatively easy deviation to make since Jerry’s restoration of the truck was mostly cosmetic. Brother Michael, the young monk of 1956 who had been entrusted with operating the truck and who had used it for the next 53 years to haul hundreds of cords of firewood to keep his fellows warm, had been devoted to maintaining the mechanical systems of the truck. Initially, the original 94-hp, 230-cu.in. flathead six-cylinder engine, for example, wasn’t even rebuilt—just torn down and treated to new seals, though a bad cam subsequently called for a full rebuild to be performed by Vermont Engine Works in Williston, Vermont.
It was Michael who suggested to Jerry that he purchase the truck. “He said it would be nice if someone could give the truck a good home, then stared at me until I took the hint,” Jerry says. He was at the time mountain manager and business director for the Carthusians and was shocked at the retirement of what he called “an icon on the mountain.” Although he’d never before restored a vehicle, he nevertheless hauled it home and at least stored it until the mild winter of 2016 persuaded him to give it a shot. He had, at least, long admired the Power Wagon, attracted to “its stance and look; its simplicity and utilitarian style” and noting how its “mechanically strong engineering comes through no matter what vantage point.”
Even restoring “just” the cosmetic side was no small effort, however. Even though it had been garage-kept from 1956 to 2009, and rust was limited to one driver’s side cab mount, a half-century of hard work had resulted in a body that was faded chalky white and covered in dents and dings.
“The biggest hurdle was getting it all apart,” Jerry says, recalling the restoration efforts that started in 2016. “Being bolted together so many years, as you can imagine, it was all Sawzalls and hammers.”
A local bodyman welded in a new cab mount, and Jerry ordered up new bedsides and running boards from Tisdale Coachworks in Winslow, Indiana.
To complement the green paint and USFS graphics, Jerry has collected various period-correct Forest Service items to display with the truck at shows, including a canteen, backpack, portable telephone, and a vintage map of the service area he covers now as a Vermont Fire Warden.
To complement the green paint and USFS graphics, Jerry has collected various period-correct Forest Service items to display with the truck at shows, including a canteen, backpack, portable telephone, and a vintage map of the service area he covers now as a Vermont Fire Warden.
To complement the green paint and USFS graphics, Jerry has collected various period-correct Forest Service items to display with the truck at shows, including a canteen, backpack, portable telephone, and a vintage map of the service area he covers now as a Vermont Fire Warden.
To complement the green paint and USFS graphics, Jerry has collected various period-correct Forest Service items to display with the truck at shows, including a canteen, backpack, portable telephone, and a vintage map of the service area he covers now as a Vermont Fire Warden.
To complement the green paint and USFS graphics, Jerry has collected various period-correct Forest Service items to display with the truck at shows, including a canteen, backpack, portable telephone, and a vintage map of the service area he covers now as a Vermont Fire Warden.
While Power Wagons themselves are somewhat scarce due to the hard lives they often lived, and certainly in demand among the retro-oriented in today’s 4×4-centric marketplace, they remain rather easy to get parts for. In addition to Tisdale’s offerings, Jerry got items from DCM Classics in Zeeland, Michigan, and Vintage Power Wagons, in Fairfield, Iowa.
Today, the old Power Wagon lives an even more sedate life than it did in a monastery. Jerry takes it out for moderate cruises “a couple times a month” and adds about 1,500 miles to the odometer yearly. He’s only had it to three shows and says that the real pleasure he gets from it is “the smiles and stories it brings out in people of all walks.” Want a Power Wagon yourself? Then you may want to take Jerry’s advice.
“They are harder and harder to find, and becoming expensive. Save money, find the right one, and have patience.”
