Boston.com's view

My favorite truck of all time? The 1948 Dodge Power Wagon.

It had that protruding snout, wheels ready to rip, steroidal – before steroids – bulge to its fenders, and cab meant for business, not pleasure.

It had been a civilian vehicle for only two years at that point, the first being a 1946 based on the Army’s -ton chassis, and would live as a true American Power Wagon until 1968 (the last year it was truly built as such). I know I’ll get mail saying we still built it for overseas and the nameplate showed up elsewhere, but I say show me a Power Wagon built after 1968, and I’ll show that nameplate on a lesser beast.

What brought the Power Wagon to mind was the 2002 Dodge Ram 1500 SLT from which I just climbed down, using one of the sturdy grips at each of its four doors. When I first saw it parked in the yard, I thought: Power Wagon.

This wasn’t the light-duty Ram of late, with its wide grin of a grille like a mouthful of braces. This was the old Power Wagon, braces removed, grille gone back to snout. Modern touches that do not distract from this proboscis include a honeycomb background and crosshair grillework.

In addition, there were the crowned hood and bulging fenders all around. It was remarkable that the Power Wagon-feel remained even though the windshield has been radically and practically sloped and that this was a full-blown four-door, with front-hinged rear doors that open to full-sized rear seating (either a bench or 60/40 fold-up split).

It’s still called a Ram, but could the Power Wagon be making a comeback? More on that later.

We got the first Ram eight years ago as a full-size pickup, a breakthrough for Dodge. To that point, the company had been selling a measly 70,000 trucks per year. Today, 350,000 is the annual average. The company is expecting big things from this new light-duty Ram. Production capacity has been increased to 265,000 for this year, up from 200,000 last year. That’s made possible by cutbacks in production for the 2500 and 3500 heavy-duty series, both due for redesign for 2003.

Powerful, almost military and utilitarian from its outward appearance, the new Ram is a vestibule of family refinement and contractor office space on the inside.

Getting in is easy, owing to those four large grips high at each door. Inside the model tested, seating was broad, leathered, bolstered, and firm. The front seat, bucket-like yet with a small middle spot if a third person needs to ride, features a fold-down center console so large it will hold a laptop. Raise the console and lift the middle of the seat, and more storage space is available.

Black-on-white gauges give the instrument panel a sporty feel and big buttons and knobs control climate and audio at center dash. The switch from two-wheel to four-wheel-drive is as simple as the turn of a knob.

Legroom and headroom are spacious up front, and headroom in the rear remains fine while, even though three inches has been added to the c abin, the rear legroom is good but not great. The bed, by the way, has been shortened those three inches, to six feet, three inches.

Weighing in at more than 2.5 tons, the Ram needs power to move itself, and that comes in three options: two new Magnum engines, one a 4.7-liter V-8 that takes the place of the 5.2, the other a 3.7-liter V-6 that replaces the 3.9. Both have more than 30 more horsepower and better gas mileage than their predecessors. The tested Ram came with the optional 5.9-liter Magnum V-8 that produces 245 horsepower and a hauling 335 lbs.-ft. of torque. A four-speed automatic transmission with an electronically controlled, load-sensing second gear handles the torque smoothly and quietly.

As should any vehicle meant to haul heavy loads, the Ram has a leaf spring suspension at the rear. Up front, it has torsion bar independent suspension.

The Ram was a remarkably smooth, quiet ride on the highway. It felt big, but moved small, gliding through raffic at easonable speed (if you drive one of these up on the rear bumper of someone at high speed, you are a yahoo), and handled lane changes in a flat, sure manner.

On country roads, there was obvious body roll in corners (no load in the back), but never did it feel like it was being overdriven.

Offroad it was a steady slogger over rutted, rocky trails and up enduring inclines. Due to its length, it was only OK on the quick, steep pitch that once was part of a logging operation where I test off-road vehicles. The truck’s length made for a ride that did not provide the feel I like in these situations, though most Ram owners won’t take this truck where I did.

So what does the new Ram say about the possible return of the Power Wagon?

Let’s follow the bread crumbs.

In 1999, Dodge displayed a gnarly but modern rendition of a prototype Power Wagon.

In 2001, it displayed a Power Box, an SUV that had Power Wagon written all over it.

And now we have the Ram, with the powerful aura of the Power Wagon.

I’m betting on a return of the nameplate and the styling.

2002 Dodge Ram 1500 SLT 4X4

Base price: $25,350

Price as tested: $35,760

Horsepower: 245

Torque: 335 lb.-ft.

Wheelbase: 140.5 inches

Overall length: 227.7 inches

Width: 79.9 inches

Height: 76.6 inches

Curb weight: 5,263 lbs.

Seating: 6 passengers

Fuel economy: 14.2 miles per gallon

SOURCE: DaimlerChrysler Corp.; fuel economy from Globe testing.

Nice touch
The way the rear seats fold up and out of the way for storage capacity. That, added to the fold-down metal floor for heavy loads back there, adds great utility, Plus, with the 60/40 rear seat option, you can still carry passengers and tall loads.

Annoyance
Anyone building a crew cab these days (and with family use in mind) should give decent slant to the back of the rear seats for the sake of comfort. Dodge does not.