Network
Images: Mecum Auctions
With as many aftermarket customization companies as the industry has these days, it’s sometimes hard to remember the custom coach builders of the classic era. But every once in awhile, one, or in this case two, vehicles pop up to remind us of some of the great customizers of yesteryear.
This weekend, Mecum Auctions is holding their annual Houston auction and crossing the stage tomorrow will be two 1950s Chevy trucks that both underwent Northwestern Auto Parts Company (NAPCO) four-wheel-drive conversions back in the day. Check them out below, compliments of Mecum Auctions and Autoweek.
NAPCO started back in 1918 as a Minneapolis-area auto parts retailer, but when World War II hit, the company changed its trajectory to supplying the U.S. Government and military by manufacturing and rebuilding parts for the war efforts. Once the war was over, NAPCO continued their manufacturing and rebuilding operations, focusing more on the consumer side of things, as well as becoming a major part of the military surplus market.
Using their superior knowledge of military vehicles and equipment, NAPCO began converting civilian pickup trucks into four-wheel-drive vehicles in the early 1950s. One of the company’s first conversions was done to a 1951 Chevy 3/4-ton truck. Half-ton trucks followed shortly behind with NAPCO producing the conversion products and then sending them out to dealers and upfitters for final installation.
Because there were a limited number of NAPCO-converted vehicles to begin with, finding one today is rare, especially with entities like the forest service or railroads purposely buying up the conversions long ago and then running them until they died. But on Saturday, the Mecum Houston Auction will feature two NAPCO 4×4-converted Chevys for sale.
The other NAPCO conversion hitting the Mecum stage this weekend is a 1959 Suburban. Equipped with its original engine, which has been recently rebuilt, this particular model was once owned by the Sante Fe Railroad. Run in Arizona and Southern California its whole life, the Suburban comes with hundreds of pages of history and documentation as well as its California black plates.
Both NAPCO-converted trucks will hit the Houston auction stage sometime tomorrow (Mecum’s website is not currently showing sale times for either vehicle), so be sure to register for your bidder number now to have a chance to take home one of these rare NAPCO trucks this weekend!
