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37 Millionth Chevy is a 4x4 Suburban ---er Panel

For you guys who don't do faceplant, here's a pic.

I always wondered how carmakers were able to actually tell what car was the 10 millionth or whatever. With factories all over the country, in a time before instant communication via computer networks, How could anyone know which car at which factory came off the line at any specific time.

Obviously this Suburban was planned to be the 37,000,000th Chevy because it was already painted as such but I still don't see how they know or knew what vehicle at what factory would cross the finish line first.

Kevin, did you know your post links to a picture of John Cusak filming a movie in Alaska in 1980?

A friend of mine worked on the super cub that the butcher baker used for all the crimes. It was owned by an Anchorage doctor who bought it after all the murders, I called it the killer cub.

Great photo - thanks for posting it.

Look at how dirty those guys are working on a brand new vehicle; how did they manage that? Where are the gloves and ear defenders, etc? Times have changed.

Fixed the FB link. Sorry for the oops.
BTW, that movie that John Cusack was filming set in the 80's was about the infamous murders of prostitutes by the baker Robert Hansen (no relation). Title was The Frozen Ground released in 2013.

Nice, but…. Panel truck?

Yep, it's a panel truck, but hey, it's Facebook, so the error is expected.

I never knew the body AND front clip got lowered onto the frame as one piece...very interesting! That may be another reason for the added firewall to fender brace rods?!?

Mike B

It needed to be a panel because it was a Civil Defense truck.. probably lead lined to protect against the Big One :-D

1956 was the first year to purchase NAPCO 4WD as a factory option on Chevy and GMC trucks. Nice to see a historical photo from the assembly line that documents this.

Correct as long as it's understood that it was on a 1957 model year unit. All 1956 model year and back trucks had to be dealer/owner installed...

Mike B

Edit, I'm only talking about Chevrolet as I have no info on when GMC started offering factory NAPCO's...

Your comment with more detail about Chevrolet truck NAPCO factory option first offered in the 1957 model year prompted more research on my part. Thanks for the additional info.

Obtained from source articles:
Starting in 1956, NAPCO aka "Powr Pak 4×4" was offered as a factory-installed option on GMCs, while Chevrolet began offering it from the factory in 1957 (assigning it a Regular Production Option number (RPO 690)). The two were identical systems, other than the availability of a V-8 and an automatic transmission on the GMC trucks. The Chevrolet could only be ordered with the 235 six and a four-speed manual transmission. This continued more or less unchanged until the introduction of the redesigned 1960 trucks, when GM installed its own four-wheel-drive system on light trucks.

Some of the above info is already found through Searches within the Stovebolt site. New to me is the Chevrolet factory RPO 690, and that GMC offered NAPCO with its V8 and Hydramatic automatic transmission while Chevrolet did not.

ol 55 - I should have said my info was for Chevrolet only...I don't have any literature on GMC's. I'll edit my above post.

Mike B