50 cars in 50 days, celebrating 50 years of Old Cars: Day Twenty-Six

Old Cars is turning 50. In honor of 50 years of the privilege of bringing the old cars hobby to our valued and faithful readers, Old Cars will revisit 50 of our past featured cars in 50 days, to commemorate the half-century of Old Cars. Here's to fifty more years of Old Cars!

DAY TWENTY- SIX: 1956 Dodge Power Wagon

Most of its life, Jerry Mattison’s burly 1956 Dodge Power Wagon was used by cloistered monks as a beast of burden on a Vermont mountain. In its semi-retirement years, it is helping Mattison in his duties as a Bennington County (Vt.) forest fire warden. Regardless of where he takes it, Mattison can rest assured that the Dodge hasn’t looked this good since the day it was bought new back in 1956 by a member of the Charterhouse of the Transfiguration, a Carthusian Monastery on Equinox Mountain in southern Vermont.

“I think the only blacktop it ever saw was from the dealership to the monastery,” says Mattison. “The same brother had it since ’56 when it was new. They used it to bring in about 100 cord of wood a year and it pretty much just lived out in the woods. The truck was kind of an icon on the mountain.”

After four years and a lot of networking with other owners, planning and bloody knuckles, Mattison undoubtedly has one of the nicest ’56 Power Wagons you’ll find anywhere. The end result certainly belies the fact that he had never restored a vehicle before. The Dodge was an impressive first effort.

“I tore it all down, put it all back together, and it ran!” Mattison laughed. “My wife was impressed with that!”

To learn more about Mattison’s Power Wagon <CLICK HERE>

CHECK OUT DAY TWENTY-FIVE OF 50 CARS IN 50 DAYS, CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF OLD CARS HERE

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