12-11-2010, 03:21 AM
Back in the day 4×4 trucks and SUVs weren’t all the rage like they are today. Families would cart themselves around in station wagons or big sedans, while service industry vehicles would sometimes need to be modified to fit their needs. One such vehicle was the Chevrolet Apache pick-up truck that was built from 1957-1959. Heavy off-road use meant that these trucks were generally modified by a company called NAPCO (Northwestern Auto Parts Company) and fitted with new 4-wheel drive systems, that would ensure that they could be used in the harshest of conditions. The below NAPCO promotional video is quite long at about 10 minutes in length, but it shows the capabilities of these modified trucks as they tackle some pretty tough terrain. The video narration is actually quite cheesy, but watching these trucks do their thing is quite impressive. One thing that you must remember is that these old trucks were simple vehicles with no electronics to speak of. That meant fixing them in the event of a problem was a fairly easy task, which not only made them desirable back then, but today as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5LYTkRjdno
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5LYTkRjdno