We take for granted that most every pickup truck sold in the U.S. these days either comes standard with 4WD or has it available as an option. This wasn’t always the case as even stalwarts like GM had to find outsourced partners to make a four wheel drive truck a reality when the idea first began gaining traction with consumers in the 1950s. Enter the Northwestern Auto Parts Company, or NAPCO, which helped GM bring a 4×4 pickup to the masses in 1957. This truck is one of just 500 sold in ’57 and offered for sale with no reserve.

The NAPCO-converted rigs are already rare machines, but some might say 1957 is the rarest of all. Like so many innovations you see over the course of a lifetime, the first year something is introduced is not necessarily its most popular incarnation of the product or feature. Now, the bulk of consumers can’t seem to fathom the thought of owning a vehicle without AWD or 4WD. The NAPCOs came with special badges and an instruction guide on how to engage 4WD inside the glovebox, but I don’t see either detail on this truck, which was previously repainted – and is likely when the fender badges went missing.

1957 is a popular year for Chevy products in general among enthusiasts, so it’s of little surprise see’re seeing the bidding activity we are. Think about a ’57 Corvette, or a ’57 Bel Air – imagine having those two icons and parking one of Chevy’s first 4WD pickups next to them in the same garage. The pickup came with either a 235-cu.in. OHV I6 or a “Taskmaster” 265-cu.in. V8, with this NAPCO sporting the latter. Combine that with the 4WD setup and you have the makings of a very desirable rig, even with the non-original paint job and some tired interior cosmetics.

The bed looks tidy with no obvious rust holes, and the same can be said of the body. The seller notes that there are some surface rust spots here and there but it overall seems like a very well preserved truck. The NAPCO is a legitimate collector’s item, with owners of classic car museums and celebrities like Tim Allen both among the legions of owners who have one or several in their collections. Bidding seems light at the moment, in my opinion, with bids to just $14,100 here on eBay. What do you think a largely original example like this ’57 NAPCO should fetch once the auction is over?