Close Up With the Ram Macho Power Wagon Concept

One of the many trucks at the 2016 Specialty Equipment Market Association trade show in Las Vegas that caught our eye was a bright orange, lightly modified 2017 Ram 2500 Power Wagon. It attracted throngs of people at the Mopar booth during the show. Ram is calling it the Ram Macho Power Wagon concept, harkening back to the early days — the late 1970s — of the vertical Power Wagon stickers and Mango color scheme.

Since this custom-built vehicle is a concept pickup truck, it is not available for sale, but Mopar has been doing a pretty good job during the last several SEMA shows of testing new accessories on concepts that are likely to make it into a future Mopar parts catalog.

The Ram Macho Power Wagon concept offers some real visual drama by adding a custom 4-inch suspension lift above the already lifted stance of the factory Power Wagon. This allowed Mopar to add four well-proportioned 37-inch Nitto MT tires on a set of 18-inch bead-lock-style alloy wheels. Additionally, Mopar added four unique fender flares to accentuate the taller stance and curve of the wheel wells.

The Mango-colored truck sports painted black graphics on the side and rear. The custom front bumper includes a newly styled winch guard, along with some red inserts in the Ram grille lettering. The hood is a prototype, sporting a pair of crosshatched vents along with custom lettering and logos. Extra skid plating underneath is painted bright silver and each of the four tow hooks (two in front, two in the rear) are painted red.

The Mango color scheme continues inside with anodized accents on the center console, around the air-conditioning vents and in door inserts. Additionally, the seats are wrapped in a bright Mango leather accent that's matched all the way down to the seat foundations. This concept had the Power Wagon cloth seat option with the tread pattern of the tires embossed on the seat bottom and back.

A factory stock 6.4-liter V-8 Hemi with a Mopar cold-air intake system and six-speed transmission sat under the hood. To move the noise and emissions out, Mopar created a 5-inch dual-wall chrome tip for the exhaust.

The bed of the Macho Mango Power Wagon featured quite possibly the coolest part on the truck and the one detail most likely to become a real Mopar part. The new sliding bed rack, called the RamRack, is designed to slide the length of the 6.25-foot bed and create an adjustable storage tray for kayaks or supplies, or even act as a tent structure for family outings. When you don't need it, the rear piece slides underneath the foundational mount and locks to the bed right behind the cab, disappearing from view.

There is no pricing on a vehicle like this, mostly because its main purpose is to highlight potential features and parts that could go into production. The whole point is to gauge interest.

As to whether the Macho Power Wagon could become another specialty trim package, we'll have to wait and see. But we can say if the people who saw the concept pickup at the show have anything to say about it, a more macho Power Wagon would be a great addition to the Ram heavy-duty lineup.

Cars.com photos by Evan Sears

Comments (13) in 2016 SEMA, Aftermarket, Auto Shows, Concepts, Full-Size, Heavy-Duty, Ram 2500, Ram Brand