What? A NAPCO with 5 Wheels?
Hello and Welcome!
You've found the ORIGINAL online home of
What is NAPCO?
NAPCO was the company who converted the 2 wheel drive trucks to 4 wheel drive back in the good old days!
There is quite
an array of members in our group who have been working on or have finished their restorations, or just fixed 'em up just to drive
these classics once again down the road. These trucks are becoming hard to find, but further more, harder to find the parts just to
keep them running.
Our members vary from the extreme restoration fanatics to the guy who had to just fix his broken U joint on
his originally converted NAPCO 4 wheel drive truck. There are members being added all the time.
We as members do believe in one
common goal, and that is to keep the NAPCO drivetrain all original and keep these old trucks alive.
We have members who own not
only the common Chevrolet and GMCs, but also Studebaker and even a Ford or two! We have had a few meets in the past to bring our group
together and meet one another to swap stories and talk trucks, check out our "Events"
An original Ford Dealershiop ad showing the new NAPCO extras!
The NAPCO Owner's Group website is sponsored by:Lugo Parts Restoration, Inc.
Do you own one of these NAPCO trucks?
Add your NAPCO rig so we can see where you are located.
Webdesign by Pee-Wee Productions
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Mr. Bob Reil is the winner of our 1st Virtual Online NAPCO Truck Show Contest!! What a nice looking NAPCO it is!! Maybe YOU will
be our next?
Bob says "Thank you NAPCO members for voting for my truck! Out of all the great NAPCO trucks that entered in the truck show,
I didn’t know I would win. Thank you."
Established in 1999, We are the "original" group that started it all, information about NAPCO was first aquired here thru NAPCO owners.
We are made up of people who own, want to own, or just want to know all about NAPCO! We have dedicated a lot of time and effort to search
for the nonexistent NAPCO information by calling all across the US to find parts and during that process we have learned how
to rebuild the components that put NAPCO trucks back on the road.
We are constantly asking questions with other members on how to find out how one guy did this, or how he did that and trading parts
or finding where to get that particular part. We have made contact with other members in the famous Carlisle meet in Pennsylvania
to Yellowstone Montana.
We are hoping to eventually get as many members together in one location as possible, this is tough,
but our goal is to eventually break up into different regions across the US.
A $25.00 yearly membership fee to keep us
moving in the right direction is now required. We need to do this to update our website and forum, a better selection T-shirts,
decals, hats, membership cards and send out news letters to our members who don't have access to a computer. The membership will include
more in depth information and resources on what you will need to restore your truck.
Click on the "JOIN" link above and start restoring your NAPCO today!
The U.S. Department of the Interior Geological Survey used this NAPCO to help map our country in 1960.
The U.S. Department of the Interior used a device known as a Johnson Elevation Meter Machine an was mounted on this 1960 GMC
Suburban model K1001 four-wheel-drive suburban. The slope/angle of the road was measured by a sensitive electronic pendulum, and the
distance was measured by that fifth wheel. Yes there was even an onboard computer that solved equations for the difference in elevation
ten times per second! In areas of moderate relief with an adequate net of relatively smooth roads, these instruments were capable
of establishing elevations within 2 feet while traveling at speeds approaching 30 miles per hour which made for a great vehicle to
help map out the U.S.
"It was the year 2001 I decided to check out a Chevy/GMC show that was about 1 ½ hour drive. I couldn’t stop taking pictures of all
the great trucks. As I walked around, there it was. A 59 GMC 4x4. It was awesome! I was hooked and I had to find one. I looked for
about 1yr and saw one in the Hemmings Motor News. The year 2002, I drove to Pennsylvania with friends to a VW auto show and told them
I am going to look at the truck. Little did I know about these trucks, I just had to have it. That following weekend I planned to
bring it home. I called the local U-haul dealer to rent a trailer. Left at 3am Saturday morning and 6 hours later to pick up the trailer.
Told the guy who I am, tells me someone overnight took the wrong trailer, my trailer. I wasn‘t happy! Told him to find me one. Ended
up almost ½ hour away from where I should of been. Get the truck and it barely fit on the trailer. My truck is a 1959 GMC ½ ton with
a factory installed NAPCO Powr-Pak 4x4 Conversion. It was built in Oakland California and later it went to a farm in Oregon. Over
time I have found out about my truck, what Napco was all about and how rare they are. It has a 270 which I have spent a lot of time
researching what went where and detailing it. I wanted to restore it to look like it did 50yrs ago. Dirtiest job was sandblasting,
most challenged the motor, and the most fun, driving it down the road.
Thank you again,
Bob Reil."
