Greenlight 1941 Military 1/2 ton 4x4

Greenlight is not a stranger to promotions having spent the past five years with Ford making replica's of almost any new passenger car or truck model in their line, some even filling in spots that normally Greenlight does not associate with.  Others include Chrysler, NY Yankees, and the Indy 500.  One even strange turn was for the TV series "Gearz" hosted by Stacy David.  One of the projects that he created on the show has finally made it to small scale: the Sgt. Rock Military 1/2 ton 4x4.

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The Dodge Power Wagon was the iconic 4x4 pickup that was used to haul supplies that the Jeep's could not handle and carry troops the troop carriers could not reach.  Like the Jeep the Power Wagon would become so famous that after the war returning G.I.'s bought one for personal use.  The Power Wagon was also instrumental in creating the 4x4 pickup when GM and Ford offered factory-installed 4x4 on their 1959 pickups.  The standard engine was an 230 CID I-6, 4-speed manual, and two-speed transfer case.  The shape of the power wagon would continue until 1963 when the Power Wagon name was grafted to 4x4 Dodge pickup line.  Today the power wagon is still used as a heavy-duty 4x4 for the Ram line.

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The "Gearz" Sgt. Rock was a long-time coming as the project started out on Spike TV's "Trucks!", then the show went off the air as David would go on to produce his own show where he can build more than just trucks on the show, and "Gearz" was born.  Eventually Sgt. Rock project would continue and the project finally done.  The body style is based on a 1941 1/2 ton 4x4 (the Power Wagon name would not be used by Dodge until 1946), lifted and modified with more power and stronger axles.  The first Greenlight version was painted silver, has a miral of the military camping area on the tailgate, and has two large machine guns in the bed area.  This Black Bandit version goes for an all-black look without the tailgate miral and machine guns in the bed area, but everything else is there.  Now this truck stands taller than any Greenlight casting, including the International DuraStar's and Fleetwood Bounder RV's; at first it looks like an awkward casting for Greenlight looking much larger than it is, but in fact it is not much bigger than a typical 1:64 Greenlight casting, just taller.

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The front has a grille guard that covers the fender-mounted headlights and the inner-grille-less center area that exposes the V8 motor's accessory drive belt and components.  The lower bumper is thicker to incorporate a winch in the center and quad driving lamps to provide better visibility.  The hood has the ribbed sides, split-panel hood design, and external fenders with grip texture on the areas below the doors.  The cab is rounder with a split windshield, small rear window, and the air vent slot just ahead of the windshield.  Adding coolness, and careful handling, is the dual exhaust stacks that exit just behind the cab.  Going toward the bead area shows off more rivet stamps along the edges of the bed with attached and detailed shovel on the left-side and an ax on the right-side of the bedsides.  The rear has a conventional tailgate with silver latches, dual round taillights, and a modern rear bumper that seamlessly flows with the rear fenders.  The bed area shows the holes where the gun resides and some decent cargo area with a small fuel tank (or tool box?) at the bulkhead of the bed. 

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The interior has two bucket seats and a typical Spartan interior layout with little comfort features.  The 3-spoke steering wheel lines with a flat dashboard with central gauges.  Visibility is low and there's no detailed shifters on the floor.  The engine is a 605 CID all-aluminum V8 that produces at least 700hp est. through a torqueflite 327 automatic transmission and two-speed Atlas II transfer case.  That power is sent to two 2 1/2 ton Rockwells that use another ring and pinion gear to transfer power from the driveshaft to the central-mounted differential at a 90 degree angle (similar setup is used in the Mercedes-Benz Unimog), and they also include lockers on both axles as well.  The base shows off the silver metal frame with the large axles, control links, driveshafts, and a barrel that I deem is designed to power the machine gun, if equipped.  Steering is done with two racks that can turn the front and rear wheels in the same direction at speed or opposite at lower speeds.  All of this sits on aggressive-looking 49 x 21.5 x 20 Interco tires on 20 x 18 Marsh Racing beadlock wheels.  So even though this may not be the classic Dodge Power Wagon that most are hoping for in 1:64 scale, this is close enough and vastly wild enough to have an identity of its own.

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