NAPCO (Northwestern Auto Parts Company) was a four-wheel drive (4x4) vehicle parts manufacturing company founded in 1918 and based in Minneapolis, Minnesota USA. Besides four-wheel drive units, NAPCO also provided winches, auxiliary transmissions, tandem drive axles, hydrovac systems, and dump truck bodies.
In a partnership with Sherman Products Inc., NAPCO also produced a Front Wheel Drive (FWD) Assist kit for Ford 600 and 800 series tractors in the mid-1950s. Marketed under the name Sherman NAPCO,[1] the kit did not sell in large numbers, as it was competing with the more common Elenco FWD Assist[2][3]
The 4x4 business was eventually acquired by Dana Corporation, but the company survives as NAPCO International and still produces parts and equipment for the military.