1923 headquarters kirkland washington united states products see listing parent paccar website www.kenworth.com kenworth is an american 1 manufacturer of medium and heavy duty class 8 trucks with its corporate office and engineering headquarters in kirkland washington united states a suburb of seattle washington . it is a subsidiary of paccar and is also a former manufacturer of transit buses and school buses . contents 1 history 2 current models 2.1 united states canada 2.1.1 current products 2.1.2 discontinued products 2.2 mexico 2.3 australia 3 bus industry 3.1 1926 1933 3.1.1 bu series 3.1.2 khc series 3.2 1933 1939 3.3 1940 1959 3.3.1 k & w series 3.3.2 t & c series 3.4 bus industry legacy 4 reception 5 operations 6 see also 7 references 8 external links history edit 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 2 where it was used for logging . 3 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 . 4 in 1917 worthington and his business partner captain frederick kent bought the gerlinger business renaming it the gersix motor co. 4 in 1919 kent retired from the business and his son harry kent became worthington s new partner . 4 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 . 5 in 1923 kent and worthington reincorporated the business as the kenworth motor truck company . the name was a combination of the two names ken and worth the same as the surname kenworth . in 1926 they started making buses and in 1933 kenworth was the first american company to offer diesel engines as standard in their trucks . 4 in 1945 kenworth was bought by the pacific car and foundry company . in the 1989 james bond movie licence to kill james bond drives a kenworth w900 semi truck as he duels drug dealer franz sanchez . in licence to kill the producers had 6 kenworth trucks rigged for stunt work but they only used one for the stunt which 007 raised the front of truck to protect himself from a fire . current models edit united states canada edit as of august 2016 north american kenworth models include the t680 60 % of new sales t880 near 30 % t660 t800b and w900 sharing the remaining 10 % . 6 current products edit a 2016 kenworth t680 pulling a canada michigan b train double in front of several kenworth t800 kenworth t800w tractor with end dump trailer as of november 2015 update kenworth s us and canada product line includes class 8 conventional w900 and its variants w900b extended day cab or aerocab sleeper ; w900l long cabin variant 130 inches long from bumper to back of cab ; w900s sloped hood ; icon900 a limited edition premium version introduced in 2015 . t800 and its variants t800h a high hood variant ; t800w which bears a wider grille to accommodate a bigger radiator for severe on highway applications . t660 production will cease at the end of 2016 for year model 2017 due to the sales success of the t680 7 t680 t880 c500b off highway medium duty conventional t470 class 7 t440 class 7 t370 class 7 t270 class 6 t170 class 5 medium duty cabovers k370 class 7 k270 class 6 discontinued products edit 2013 kenworth t700 tractor trailer class 8 conventional citation needed t600 t600a t600b 1985 2006 replaced by the t660 t450 c850 t700 2011 2014 due to the sales success of the t680 t2000 1996 2010 replaced by the t700 lw900 w925 needle nose like w900 with narrower grill some with butterfly hoods . production ended around 1962 . cabovers citation needed k100 k100e k136e k184 k330 l700 now peterbilt 320 lcf 210 993 mexico edit kenworth truck mexico in the early 2000s kenworth introduced to mexico the t604 based on the australian t604 with a few modifications mostly in the hood . citation needed australia edit australian kenworth t401 kenworth t650 used as a heavy vehicle tow truck australian models are assembled at kenworth s bayswater facility in victoria australia . the first kenworth model in australia was the kws925 imported fully built in 1962 . soon later kenworths were imported in complete knock down kits and assembled in preston victoria . 8 popular models include the t600 t604 t650 w925 t900 t904 t908 t909 t950 t350 t400 t401 404s t404st 404sar k124 k100e k100g k104g k104b k200 coe and c500 c510 c540 . with the t range being the bonneted models and the c for heavy haulage mine off road and road train use and the k range being the cab over models . several twin steer models were produced through the end of the 20th century . most notably was the k100e twin steer . kenworth australia have started building the new range of trucks tying in their 2008 release with the model range being the 08 series . this includes the following conventional bonneted models ; in approximate order of smallest to largest the t358 a t408sar t408 t608 t658 t908 c508 c510 . the only cabover truck built is the k108 which is very popular in the b double market segment owing to its shorter length . citation needed bus industry edit 1926 1933 edit bu series edit bus production was a mainstay at kenworth for much of the company s early years and at one time was the company s most lucrative form of business . when the company was known as gerlinger motor car works their first two full chassis vehicles were school buses based on the gersix truck chassis . in 1926 kenworth developed a chassis specifically for school and transit bus operators known as the bu . the bu model sported a wheelbase of 212 inches 5 400 mm that was expanded two more inches in 1927 and could be fitted with bodies ranging from 21 to 29 passengers . the bu model also heralded the return of the buda six cylinder engine and remained the company s principal offering through 1931 . the new model became so popular in the pacific northwest that production rose from 99 units in 1927 and 127 units in 1927 to 230 units by 1930 . by that time the predominant number of bu models produced were sent to school bus body builders and were built for use in school districts throughout the seattle and puget sound area of washington state . citation needed khc series edit kenworth continued expanding into bus production throughout the 1930s despite the great depression being a major influence . to assist kenworth s 80 factory workers who were idled by the depression the company undertook a bold move by introducing a new line of buses in august 1932 . known as the khc 22 kenworth heiser city the 23 passenger bus was developed by kenworth engineers as a stock demo vehicle to help aid a glum sales picture and to jumpstart the local economy . at a time of mild economic recovery the khc22 proved to be very popular and sparked a renewed interest in kenworth buses . major operators of the khc 22 later expanded to a 225 inch 5 700 mm wheelbase 33 passenger khc 33 in september 1933 were the portland traction company of portland oregon and spokane united railways . citation needed 1933 1939 edit in that year kenworth also released its most popular and successful line of transit bus a conventional styled bus based on their model 86 heavy duty truck . powered by a hercules jxcm engine the model 870 as it was known would soon be replaced by a model 871 which became kenworth s standard line of buses throughout the early and mid 1930s . experiments with deck and a half buses would soon follow as well as the company s very first experiments with rear engine coach type buses in 1936 . production of kenworth buses continued throughout the 1930s and into the early 1940s and during this time kenworth was manufacturing bus chassis for body builders such as wentworth and irwin later renamed wentwin and heiser . heiser long an often chosen body for school buses bearing kenworth chassis would later be purchased by pacific car and foundry company in 1937 . kenworth changed its production line early in 1939 reflecting a desire to remain in tune with market forces . the conventional bus chassis which had become poor sellers were dropped altogether and kenworth focused its designs on more transit or coach type buses with engines being located either underfloor or at the back of the bus . by this time kenworth was a major force in transit bus production and nearly every major transit company in the pacific northwest were running kenworth buses . seattle municipal railway purchased several new model 601s to replace the previous model h30s which were powered by a hall scott 135 engine underfloor and had bodies built by the pacific car and foundry company . kenworth also built a model 612 which became the company s most widely distributed underfloor coach . 27 were built with 14 wheelbase variations and seven engine variations and all 27 were sold by as many as 15 different operators . citation needed 1940 1959 edit at the onset of world war ii kenworth s bus production waned again but kenworth was able to remain afloat because orders were now larger than before . this was possible because the early effects of the war forced the amalgamation of several smaller more regional operators into larger territorial ones . these conditions meant more bus orders for kenworth only there were fewer buyers . bremerton transit purchased several buses in 1940 to accommodate the increase in ridership due to the preparations for the war itself . in the face of these conditions kenworth still maintained production at about 40 units annually . in 1940 the seattle municipal railway purchased 30 buses in a single order assisting kenworth in breaking a production record . with low volume production kenworth was more than willing to build special order coaches . gray line affiliates seattle portland and vancouver purchased several of these special coach orders known as grayliner or grayliner junior buses and the bodies for these buses were all built by pc & f. when wartime ensued kenworth found itself once again focusing its efforts towards war production producing troop transports and a number of military variations of their commercial truck line . near the end of world war ii the company would become part of the pacific car and foundry company . in 1944 the passing of kenworth president philip g. johnson meant that the major stockholders the widows of johnson and kenworth founders kent and worthington could sell their controlling shares and stake of the company . foreseeing a drastic downturn at war s end kenworth and pc & f believed bus production would play a pivotal role in