How short can U go

Swishy could you answer a question for me .Who copied who did Kenworth copy Peterbuilt or was it the other way around the early model cabs are very alike . I always get conflicting stories Thanks

As they were the same company (Paccar) from 1958 I don't think either copied. The same team more than likely designed a "universal" cab and just changed a few trim details depending on model.

Lang

OK
Google tells me all I cannot remember
:lol:



Kenworth is an American manufacturer of medium and heavy-duty Class 8 trucks, with corporate office and engineering headquarters in the Seattle, Washington suburb of Kirkland. A former manufacturer of transit buses and school buses, it is, along with its longtime rival Peterbilt, a subsidiary of Paccar
Kenworth was founded in Portland, Oregon in 1912 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, the first put into a commercial truck. The Gersix, as it was known when introduced in 1915, was framed in structural steel, which along with its power, made the truck ideal for logging in the rugged Northwest. In 1916 the company moved to Tacoma, Washington, where Seattle businessman Edgar K. Worthington was managing his mother's commercial building. He became intrigued by the Gerlinger company, which was doing quite well, or so it seemed, as the Gersix became a popular fixture in the Northwest. In 1917 Worthington and his business partner Captain Frederick Kent bought the business, renaming it the Gersix Motor Co.

In 1919 Kent retired from the business, and his son Harry Kent became Worthington's new partner. 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. In 1923 Kent and Worthington reincorporated the business as the Kenworth Motor Truck Company, a combination of the names "Ken" and "Worth". In 1926 they started making buses, and in 1933 Kenworth was the first American company to offer diesel engines as standard in their trucks. In 1945 Kenworth was bought by The Pacific Car and Foundry Company.





Peterbilt Motors Company, founded in 1939, is an American manufacturer of medium- and heavy-duty trucks. A subsidiary of Paccar, which also owns fellow heavy-duty truck manufacturer Kenworth. Peterbilt Motors is headquartered in Denton, Texas and operates manufacturing facilities in Denton, Texas and Sainte-Thérèse, Quebec.
In the first third of the 20th century logs for the lumber industry were floated downriver, hauled with steam tractors, or horse teams. Tacoma, Washington plywood manufacturer and lumberman T.A. Peterman could not get his felled inventory to his lumber mill quickly or efficiently enough to suit his needs, so he looked at the then-nascent automobile technology for logging trucks that could do the job.

Peterman began by rebuilding surplus army trucks, improving the technology with each successive vehicle, such as replacing crank starters with battery powered ones. In 1938, during the height of the Great Depression, he purchased the assets of Fageol Motors of Oakland, California, which had gone into receivership in 1932. With the ability to turn out custom built chassis Peterman initially produced two chain-drive logging trucks, which proved unsuccessful. In 1939, he began selling his trucks to the public.

T. A. Peterman died in 1944. His wife, Ida, sold the company to seven individuals within the organization, but retained its land. They expanded it into a major producer of heavy-duty trucks. In 1958, Ida Peterman announced plans to sell the property to develop a shopping center. The shareholders, not wanting to invest in a new manufacturing facility, sold the company in June 1958 to Pacific Car & Foundry Co., then primarily a manufacturer of railroad freight cars, which had acquired the assets of heavy truck competitor Kenworth in 1944. One year later, Pacific Car and Foundry started construction of a modern 176,000-square-foot (16,400 m2) manufacturing facility in Newark, Calif. In August, 1960 Peterbilt moved to the new facility and became a division of the parent firm. Pacific Car and Foundry Co. changed its name officially to PACCAR in 1971.

Now think n ........... the cabs look much the same
but the real rivet counters can tell the difference

Cya

§

Thanks for the replys fella's its just that i had a discussion whith an old truckie many years ago at the time he was driving a new cabover KW Seattle door handles at the time he told me KW were built on the East coast & Pete's were built on West coast & he said KW came out first with the cabover . As the years past by i have heard conflicting stories &thought may be someone could settle the argument Many thanks

Thanks for posting that Swishy. Read it all many many years ago, but was good to revisit.
Suppose you could relate it a bit to personal taste, which do you prefer, Ford or G.M.?
East coast/West coast? Don't know about that, also heard that one way back.
To this day, quite a few blokes still consider that a Kenworth "was only a poor mans Peterbilt".
Having quite a bit to do with both brands back before I retired, would have to say I preferred the Pete's, my opinion was back in that era they were just that little bit better assembled and presented. My opinion only, though I stress!
Dave

Swanny wrote: Thanks for the replys fella's its just that i had a discussion whith an old truckie many years ago at the time he was driving a new cabover KW Seattle door handles at the time he told me KW were built on the East coast & Pete's were built on West coast thought may be someone could settle the argument Many thanks

You answered your own question, Kenworth started on the West coast in logging etc. Hence Seattle Washington, Portland Oregon.

Think i have found an answer,the pic that Swishy posted was a 1963 cab over Pete 50/48 series .Have now been informed by a very astute & reliable soarce that the same cab design was built by KW in 1962 .Hope someone can confirm so i can sleep better :lol: :lol: :lol:

Swanee
gudday m8

were'z all the rivet counterz wen we need m
LOL
Me thinx KW were more robust for our goat track rds way back wen
Peterbilt were into aluminium in a bigger way than KW n fear n the alloy would not hold up az good az steel
think n th@'z why KW got the nod

compare n the 2 there iz sum notable differences






Butt

There again ........................ WaddaEyeKno
:lol: :lol:

cya

§

Swishy i could only see a few noteably the body shape around the front wheels the headlight seem to be more towards the centre leaving a space for the indicators & the front grab handles on the KW are outside the wipers thats about it for me porkys are starting to sting :lol: :lol:

Swishy wrote: ....

were'z all the rivet counterz wen we need m
LOL
....

Butt

There again ........................ WaddaEyeKno
:lol:

Well Swishy... That's a special beast indeed ... It's a Canadian built K900 model.... Their version of a K model cab on a W900 chassis.... Specific to Canada I believe.... Although 5-6 were imported to NZ from Canada