Quoting a famous former late-night talk show "philosopher,'' I'm going to name my column after a statement he made famous, "I Did Not Know That." This column and some upcoming articles like it will include tidbits that might make you _say, "I did not know that." The exact birthdate of the GM factory 4x4 is not known. What is known is that in July and August of 1954, NAPCO (Northwestern Auto Parts Company) was pushing their proven 4x4 conversion to truck up fitters and GMC dealers across the country. Up fitters were companies that installed or converted stock factory trucks with upgrades or accessories like winches, auxiliary transmissions, tandem drive axles, dump bodies, air and hydrovac brake systems, etc. NAPCO had been in business for 36 years and during WWII had focused all their attention on the production of specialized automotive parts and assemblies on commission from prime contractors to the United States government. In other words, components were tested on the largest proving grounds in the world: WWII. With the rifling of armed forces priorities, NAPCO channeled its vast engineering and manufacturing experience to the production of goods for private industry. These 2-speed 4x4 conversions were made up of 85% GM parts. That meant that for the most part they were serviceable by your local dealer. Complete front axle differential assemblies, brakes, drums, wheels, drive lines, backing plates, springs, shock absorbers, and universal joints were Chevrolet replacement parts. They proudly pitched, "Now you can have a standard Chevrolet 4- wheel drive pickup featuring the traction power of a tank or, at the flip of a finger, a smoother riding, high-speed over-the-road truck.
Aptly named the Chevrolet Mountain Goat, this full-sized pickup would liberally leap up mountains as well as carry you through deep mud, sand or snow." Some of the features of this shift on the fly 4x4 was the turning radius which remained unchanged, a full engine torque P.T.O. option, transfer case rubber-mounted for long and silent operation, no damage during installation to the Chevrolet or GMC frame, greater ease of steering, and 3-hour installation. That's right! Only four holes to drill and no torch cutting. In a matter of a few hours, you could go from 2-wheel drive to 4-wheel drive and the NAPCO POWR-PAK could be transferred from one Chevrolet truck to another. This meant that if a dealer had a truck in stock that he wanted to convert to 4-wheel drive by using the NAPCO POWR-PAK, he could order the POWR-PAK 4-wheel drive package.
Low and behold, a wooden crate 80 long by 30" wide and 26" deep would show up on his loading dock weighing in at 1410 lbs, with all necessary parts enclosed. Priced at hundreds less than any comparable 4x4 truck, this is how the conversion bill looked. Take into consideration that a half-ton 2-wheel drive pickup listed for $1,548.96 in 1954. The retail price of just the POWR-PAK was $995 with a dealer cost of $800 F.O.B. Minneapolis, MN (home of NAPCO) and installed by an upfitter or equipment company ($1248 list). This brought the complete list price of the finished truck to $2796.96.
These conversions were done on the 1/2 ton, 3/4 ton, 1 ton, 1-1/2 ton and 2-ton trucks, as well as Suburbans and Panels. Now repeat after me, "I did not know that."
