Kenworth Truck

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Kenworth is a manufacturer of medium and heavy-duty Class 8 trucks based in Kirkland, Washington, United States, a suburb in Seattle. It is a subsidiary of PACCAR, and is also a former manufacturer of transit buses and school buses.

Kenworth began its history in Portland, Oregon. In 1912, the company was founded by brothers George T. and Louis Gerlinger, Jr. as a car and truck dealership known as Gerlinger Motor Car Works. In 1914, they decided to build their own truck with a more powerful inline six-cylinder engine. This was the first ever put into a commercial truck. The Gersix, as it was known, unveiled in 1915, was framed in structural steel, which along with its power, made the truck ideal for the rugged Northwest,[1] where it was used for logging.[2]

In 1916 the Gerlinger Motor Car Company moved to Tacoma, Washington. Seattle businessman Edgar K. Worthington was managing his mother's commercial building, where Gerlinger became a tenant, and became intrigued by the Gerlinger company. Worthington's tenant was doing quite well, or so it seemed, and the Gersix became a popular fixture in the Northwest.[3] However, the company, which then had offices in Seattle and Portland, was struggling and in 1917, Louis Gerlinger offered the manufacturing operation for sale. Worthington jumped at the opportunity. Together with his partner, Captain Frederick Kent, they formed the Gersix Manufacturing Company, to continue making a six-cylinder truck.

In 1919, Kent retired from the business and his son, Harry, became Worthington's new partner.[3] In 1922, Gersix made 53 trucks at its factory on Fairview Avenue at Valley Street. Under the new name, the company moved to 506 Mercer Street and later to 1263 Mercer Street. Trucks and motor coaches were assembled in individual bays rather than on a conventional assembly line.[4]

Kenworth was founded in 1923, taking the first three letters of "Kent" and the first five of "Worthington", capitalized with US$60,000. The following year, the company sold 80 trucks. In 1933[citation needed] Kenworth became the first truck maker in the United States to switch entirely from gasoline to diesel internal combustion engines.

They were one of the first to come out with a cab-over-engine, or COE, model in 1957.

Kenworth Truck

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