Kenworth’s Road to Australia

Creating a legend

Originating in a workshop in Portland, Oregon, the very first Kenworth started out in 1915 as a six-cylinder truck with a chassis fashioned from structural steel. Its creators, the Gerlinger Motor Company of Portland and Seattle, christened it the Gersix for the size of its engine.

The struggling Gerlinger operation was acquired in 1917 by Seattle business interests and reincorporated in 1923 as the Kenworth Motor Truck Corporation. The now-famous Kenworth name is derived from the surnames of two major shareholders Harry Kent and Edgar Worthington.

Kenworth s approach to truck building was different. The trucks were tough workhorses, but much lighter than other brands, largely due to weight-saving improvements such as using aluminium rather than steel to fabricate the hubs, cabs and bumpers. They were also custom built to suit different applications, something that became a major selling point.

Kenworths earned their reputation the hard way, hauling logs out of the dense forests of America s Pacific Northwest region. But it would be Australia s more rugged condition that would really test the truck s legendary engineering, and where it would prove its durability and strength time and time again.

By 1944, Kenworth s future looked somewhat shaky following the deaths of several board directors. The directors widows eventually offered their husbands stock to Paul Pigott, president of railcar manufacturer Pacific Car & Foundry (later PACCAR Inc). Despite the high asking price, Pigott stepped in and purchased the company.

In 1965, Pigott s son Charles (Chuck) Pigott took over as president of PACCAR. (He would later become a director of Boeing and head of the American Boy Scout Movement.) Both father and son believed in the future of trucking and ensured that Kenworth s unique custom engineering approach continued.

From Seattle to Bayswater

The first Kenworths in Australia the KWS925 were imported as fully built-up models in October 1962. These early conventional S-models had been converted to right-hand steer and were powered by Detroit Diesel engines. They were also fitted with a 12/13 speed Spicer transmission, long range fuel tanks and larger than normal radiators.

The trucks were engineered according to the instructions of Kenworth s brilliant chief engineer, John Holmstrom, who had previously met with local transport operators in Australia. Taken for a drive along the Hume Highway, Holmstrom had been amazed at the steep gradients and the road s poor condition, with its mass of potholes and unsealed edges. But he was confident Kenworth could customise a truck to suit the local environment.

Before long, Kenworths were being imported as completely knocked down (CKD) kits and assembled at workshops in Preston, Victoria.

These awesome prime movers soon turned heads on Australian roads. Local truckies were dumbfounded whenever a Kenworth powered past them up a rise hauling full payloads. Transport companies also took note when Ansett Freight Express placed a major order and began running its new Kenworth fleet like clockwork on the interstate highways.

In 1964, Jack Hurley and Alan Brown, co-founders of the Brown & Hurley Group, agreed to become the first Kenworth dealers in Australia. Jack and Alan noted that the cost of a Kenworth was then equivalent to purchasing 13 blocks of land in Kyogle, where their business was based. But they also noted the truck s 316 horsepower enormous horsepower for those days and decided to give Kenworth a go.

With sales increasing, head office in America was eventually persuaded that it would be to everyone s advantage to build the entire truck locally, and with as much Australian content as possible.

In 1966, PACCAR registered Kenworth Motor Trucks Pty Ltd in Australia. It then purchased an empty 28-acre site in the outer-Melbourne suburb of Bayswater and began constructing a new factory early in 1970. When the plant officially opened in November, it became the first Kenworth manufacturing facility outside the North American continent.

A major milestone was achieved on 2 March 1971 when the first Australian-built Kenworth a cab-over K125CR - rolled off the production line. That moment marked the transition from merely assembling trucks to building one entirely from component parts.

The breakthrough of Australian design and manufacturing

Although Kenworths were now being built locally, all the concepts, design and engineering work still emanated from America. But as confidence in engineering grew, so did the level of Australian influence in the direction and look of the local model range.

The turning point came in the mid 1970s with the release of the W900SAR. Entirely conceptualised in Australia, the SAR was built in direct response to growing customer pressure for a truck that could accommodate a bigger horsepower engine, while still complying with Australia s bumper to back-of-cab regulations.

Customers were ecstatic when the W900SAR came off the assembly line on 9 July 1975. Sales skyrocketed and the truck was on its way to becoming a Kenworth icon.

A decade later, Kenworth in America launched the world s first aerodynamic truck the T600. Created in response to spiralling fuel prices, its then radical design featured sleek aerodynamic styling. The aim of aerodynamics was to streamline the flow of air around prime mover and trailer so as to lower the amount of fuel required by the engine to haul the rig.

Kenworth in Australia quickly set about engineering its own version of the groundbreaking T600 for the local market. Launched in 1987, the truck featured a much stronger cab fabricated with steel rather than aluminium.

The company also introduced the T650, which was designed around aerodynamic principles but distinguished by the addition of a bull-bar.

The aerodynamic models lived up to their publicity, recording a reduction in fuel consumption of approximately 10 per cent

Today, you can easily spot an Australian Kenworth in a line-up with their American siblings. Apart from their distinctive bull bars, the trucks have bigger bonnets and grilles to accommodate larger engines and cooling packages.

Climate, distance and dust have all factored into local design and engineering. For example, a Kenworth built in Australia is specced to drive fully laden in 50 degrees Celsius ambient temperatures, whereas American trucks are only designed for 44 degrees Celsius ambient temperatures. Additionally, the air intake on some models is raised well above the roof to prevent dust getting in.

Some of the iconic Kenworth models are now displayed at the Kenworth Dealer Hall of Fame, which opened in Alice Springs in 2005. Built with the support of the dealer network, the museum is dedicated to showcasing Kenworth s Australian model range and recording the history of Kenworth and its dealers.

The commitment to local manufacturing

When Kenworth signalled its intention to expand its manufacturing base in Australia, many doubted its chances in what was a highly competitive environment with very little tariff protection. Not only that, Kenworth was a low-volume custom-builder with a high diversity of product.

By the 1990s, a number of truck manufacturers were already scaling back local production in favour of importing a fully built-up product. Kenworth took the opposite route, reaffirming its commitment to local manufacturing and Australian road transport in the mid 1990s by announcing a $12 million upgrade and expansion of its Bayswater facilities.