Powell Registry

---

Updates in Nov. 2024 include a revised SURVIVOR LIST, now totaling 109 vehicles and several new pictures. This update includes new pictures of pickups and station wagons in our SCRAPBOOK section that are identified on our SURVIVORS list. We also have an ARCHIVE of many additional pictures. Be sure to check each section of the Powell Registry site for interesting facts and stories.

There are still several owners who have yet to send the Registry pictures of their Powell-please do so.

Jim Benjaminson of North Dakota started the registry for Powell pickups and station wagons in 1981, and handed it off to Jeff Petersen of Arizona then later to Chuck Elderton. This site builds upon the work of these men. Jim Benjaminson is active in the National Plymouth Club and has authored several excellent Powell articles that have been published in national magazines.

In 2009, Brad Powell, son of Hayward and Dorothy, brother of Alan, made contact with the Registry. What a treat to know that the family is aware and supportive of our mini history of the Powell Sport Wagon and the men who created it. Brad and his brother Alan are planning to document the history of their father Hayward and their uncle Channing's interesting lives. We look forward to providing any support we can, and hope that the Registry will gain insight to the talented and ambitious brothers.

The Powell four-wheeled vehicles were collectively called Sport Wagons and could be considered forerunners of the modern sport utility vehicle, as they targeted a similar market. Most surviving Sport Wagons are not in roadworthy condition; a few are in museums, and very few are still in use. Browsing our Scrapbook will highlight the scope of conditions.

In the early 1980s there also existed a Powell Scooter Registry, operated by Wally Skyrman of Oregon. Some of Wally's work is the basis for the Powell on the U.S Scooter Museum site www.lst1090.org/scooter/index.htm. Powell made far more scooters than trucks; the scooters continue to demand premium prices while the trucks languish, mostly unloved.

Detailed and sometimes conflicting information on Powell Sport Wagons can be found in several of the automotive encyclopedia-type books that have been published over the years, including:

• Heavyweight Book of American Light Trucks 1939-1966 (1988)
• Standard Catalog of American Cars 1946-1975 (1992)
• Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Trucks and Commercial Vehicles (1996)

Magazine articles and drive tests can be found in:

• Hemmings Motor News (Oct. 2010)
• Vintage Truck (Feb. 2004) The most comprehensive and up-to-date
• Collectible Automobile (Feb. 1992)
• Special Interest Autos #84 (Dec. 1984)
• Motor Trend (Feb. 1956)
• Motor Life (Oct. 1955)
• Old Cars Weekly (Jan. 10, 2002)
• A Powell mini-bike was pictured in Cycle News as late as the Dec. 18, 1969 issue.

             :     ROAD KILL : Issue # 05 [ in 2016 ]
            :      Special Interest Autos [ August 1991 ]  page 65 station wagon PMC 2934

             :      Old Cars  Vol. 50  /  No. 06 March 15 - 2021 page 18 - 19

             :     Skinned Knuckles  Vol. 30-3  Oct. 2005 / Issue No. 351

             :      Vintage Truck  { Sept. / Oct. 2020 }  Vol. 28 - No. 4

             :      Visit Powell Owners Group on Facebook

             :       Contact info.    1956powellpower@gmail.com / Ben Stephenson