Kenworth

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Kenworth is a manufacturer of medium and heavy-duty Class 8 trucks based in Kirkland, Washington, a suburb of Seattle. It is a subsidiary of PACCAR. The brand claims to maintain an image of high quality, it has won five of six JD Power Awards in 2005 and three of four the most recent poll.

Kenworth has manufacturing plants in Renton, Washington, Chillicothe, Ohio, Sainte-Thérèse, Quebec, and Mexicali.

Founded in 1923 by Seattle businessmen Edgar Worthington and Harry Kent (son of Frederick Kent, a partner in the predecessor company, Gersix Motor Company), taking the first three letters of "Kent" and the first five of "Worthington", the company was born, capitalized with $60,000. The following year the company sold 80 trucks. In 1933 Kenworth became the first truck maker in the United States to switch from gasoline to diesel engines. They were one of the first to come out with a cab-over-engine, or COE, model in 1957.

Some popular North American Kenworth models include the T800, T600, W900, and T2000.

During MATS 2006 Kenworth announced the new T660. It's based on the T600, with superior aerodynamics and updated styling. It incorporates a completely new outer-body package including hood, bumper, headlamps, grill, and chassis fairings. The T660 will be the benchmark for high quality, on-highway trucks and maintains Kenworth's "Best in Class" approach.

The T800 has several versions, including the T800SH (Short hood, 113" BBC), T800W (Wide Hood, for a bigger radiator) and T800H (High Hood, for extra cooling area, but not as big as the T800W). They're mainly used in construction, off-road and special applications.

In the early 2000's KW introduced to Mexico the T604, based on the Australian T604 with a few modifications, mostly in the hood, it is optimized for pulling doubles in areas where you need a powerful engine, however, the sales can't be compared to those of the T600 and T800.

In around 2004 KW introduced also to Mexico the KW45 and KW55, rebadged versions of the DAF LF45 and LF55, for distribution applications, a potential buyer has always been The Coca-Cola Company, as they have been replacing their old conventionals with new cabover trucks for shorter length with the same cargo space or same length with more cargo space.

Australian models are assembled at Kenworth's Bayswater facility in Victoria, Australia. Popular models include the T604, T904, T350, T401/404, K104 (C.O.E.) and C510.

[edit] Kenworth rigs in movies and television

• A Kenworth W-900 was one of the major vehicles used in the eighties cartoon series M.A.S.K.. It was also a part of the M.A.S.K. logo.
• A Kenworth W-900A tractor was used as the truck Jerry Reed's character "Snowman" drove during the film Smokey and the Bandit
• Jerry Reed's character "Duke Boykin" also drove a Kenworth K100 cabover tractor in the Canadian film "High Ballin'"
• Optimus Prime, leader of the Transformers' heroic Autobot faction, transfomed into a 1982 K-100.
• A Kenworth K-100 cabover tractor, with the 'Aerodyne' upper windows in the sleeper compartment, was used in the popular television (TV) series BJ and the Bear
• A Kenworth W-900 was used in the TV series Movin' On and was owned and driven by Sonny Pruitt (Claude Akins)
• A Kenworth T-2000 was used in The National Network's TV series 18 Wheels of Justice
• Three specially modified Kenworth W-900Bs were used in the James Bond movie Licence to Kill

[edit] See also

• Peterbilt (Kenworth's sister company in PACCAR)
• Class 8 Trucks
• Semi-trailer truck
• PACCAR
• Dump Truck

[edit] External links

• Kenworth Truck Company