#PowerWagon

Last year was a bountiful season for truck fans, with two of the Detroit Three introducing new iterations of their half-ton pickups. The twelve months ahead promise an equal amount of abundance – except this time, OEMs are doling out treats from the Heavy Duty cupboard.

Back in September, your humble author opined on this website that he would “not be surprised if Ram is the first manufacturer to crest 1,000 lb-ft of torque in a consumer truck.” Color us unsurprised, then, as the new 2019 Ram Heavy Duty pickup will indeed be available with four-figure torque.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has been on a bit of a mental streak lately.

Rip the seats out of a Hellcat to create the Demon? Sure!

Drop a V8 engine the size of a grand piano into a Durango and perform all-wheel drive burnouts? Why not?

The level of brash, automotive lunacy on offer from Auburn Hills is appalling. I think it’s great.

It’s no surprise, then, Ram chose to amp up the capability and in-your-face style of its Power Wagon when it came time for a refresh. Big tires, bold grilles, and billboard-sized badges; customers in the market for a Power Wagon are not generally a bunch of wallflowers.

The time is ticking ever closer to the day an OEM slaps a $100,000 MSRP on a truck. It will happen, and it won’t be long before it does.

In 1997, $27,000 bought a lavishly equipped F-150 Lariat SuperCab with a 5.4-liter V8. Adjusted for inflation, that’s about $40,000 in today’s money. Adjusted for reality, that truck now carries a $45,000 MSRP. The $100,000 barrier will be crossed in perhaps a decade based on inflation alone, but inflation will not deliver the first $100,000 truck. Trim escalation and new equipment will cross the finish line first.

Regardless, OEMs won’t be the first to push MSRPs into the stratosphere. That distinction goes to the aftermarket, in conjunction with dealers. And, unsurprisingly, together they’ve already made a $100,000 pickup a reality.

Dodge is set to revive the Power Wagon as a high end heavy-duty truck option for Ram buyers.