Published in 2000, this compact, 9x7-inch format history features 130 black-and-white photographs ranging in size from a full page to small images that measure only an eighth of a page. Among these are numerous photographs featuring examples from the collections of Power Wagon enthusiasts. The book’s five chapters—referred to by numbers only in the Table of Contents—cover the Power Wagon history from its origins in World War II through the final 1980 model year and beyond. Author Monty Montgomery also covers the  “rest of the story” in the book’s final two chapters: “The Post-Power Wagon Era,” that began in 1981 and “Dodge Ramcharger/Plymouth Trailduster.” (Plymouth’s official style was to present the name as two separate words—Trail Duster.) Why include these last models? Montgomery cites a 1974 catalog that referred to the Ramcharger as “the newest member of the Dodge Power Wagon family.” Photographs generally feature informative captions that form the bulk of the book’s narrative. A variety of sidebars include WWII-era postcards featuring Dodge military vehicles; a 1950 wood-bodied Power Wagon originally owned by the president of Brown and Bigelow, a company most famous for advertising calendars; 1954–66 Town Panel and Town Wagons; and a plow-equipped Sno-Fiter.

Book Review by Robert Gabrick