It’s always interesting, scrolling through the Trucksales classifieds, seeing what trucks are on offer and at what prices. Occasionally a milestone model appears and the Kenworth T600 Anteater is one such truck
Let’s set the scene with some brand history. The Kenworth story began in 1914, in Seattle, Washington, where brothers George T and Louis Gerlinger Jr built their own-design truck with a more powerful six-cylinder engine than the typical fours that were available. It also had a cab with steel, not wood, framing.
The ‘Gersix’ – an abbreviation of the brothers’ surname plus ‘six’ – was introduced in 1915 and proved ideal for logging in the rugged Northwest.
In 1916, the company attracted the attention of businessman Edgar K Worthington. In 1917, Worthington and his business partner, Captain Frederick Kent, bought the business and, in 1923, Worthington and Kent’s son reincorporated the business as the Kenworth Motor Truck Company, a contraction of their surnames, as befitted the heirs of the Gersix.
From the outset, Kenworths were custom-built, incorporating customers’ requirements where possible.
For the past few decades, Kenworth T600s have been a popular sight on our roads.
In 1933 Kenworth became the first American company to make diesel engines standard in their trucks and also introduced sleeper cab options.
The USA’s Motor Carrier Act of 1935 introduced stringent weight and size restrictions on trucks and trailers. Kenworth engineers responded with aluminium hubs, cabs and lightweight four-spring and torsion-bar rear suspensions. Hydraulic brakes were introduced, along with a 6x4 option.
By 1951, Kenworth's distribution had grown and exports made up around 40 per cent of sales.
In 1961, two trend-setting new models were introduced by Kenworth: the W900 conventional (W for Worthington) and the K100 (K for Kent) cab-over.
Kenworth in Aus
The first Kenworths arrived in Australia in 1962, when several were imported by truck operator Ed Cameron. They were relatively expensive, but they worked, so by 1967 around 100 KWs were running on Australia’s roads. At that point PACCAR (Kenworth’s US holding company) purchased the distribution rights from Ed and local assembly of Kenworths started in 1970.
The T600 was suited to many and varied applications.
It took some time for the premium-priced Kenworth to achieve market volume, but the market-specific 1974 SAR proved to be a turning point. The ’S’ stood for short bonnet and the ‘AR’ for Australian Right Hand Drive, athough it didn’t take long for a local moniker to appear: Short And Rough.
W900 models had great appeal to owner operators and COE K120 series and K140 twin-steer trucks became prominent highway legends as ‘overnighters’ carrying time-sensitive freight between east coast capital cities.
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The popular 1970s specification was Detroit Diesel 8V or Cummins 14-litre and V903 18-litre engine, and a 15-speed Fuller Roadranger transmission.
The dual targets of customisation and tariff reduction prompted Kenworth's decision to open a plant in Australia in 1968. Within two years it was producing right-hand-drive bonnetted trucks and COEs for the Australian and other southest-asian RHD markets.
At the time of writing, this 1996 T600 was for sale on trucksales.com.au
In 1980, the first Australian managing director, Andrew Wright, took the reins and Kenworth became a division of PACCAR Australia Ltd, with $35 million worth of accumulated investment in this country. (Andrew Wright was a Carlton supporter, endearing him to at least some of us).
Why the T600?
The T600 was designed in response to escalating fuel prices, following the ‘Oil Shock’ of 1973. Arab oil exporters put an embargo on oil deliveries to the USA, following the US support of Israel in the Yom Kippur War. That action restricted the global supply of crude and pushed up the price of oil.
In mid-1973 the average price of a barrel of oil was $US2.00 and pump prices in the USA were around 40 cents per US gallon (10 cents per litre). By mid-1974 the average price was closer to 60 cents per US gallon (15 cents per litre). By 1980 the price of a barrel of oil was up to US$35 and pump prices were around US$1.20 per US gallon (30 cents per litre).
In the late 1970s, with the trebling of fuel prices at the pump, global truck makers had to consider fuel consumption as a principal purchasing factor and Kenworth took on that challenge. The result was the USA’s first streamlined, bonetted production truck.
Early T600 interiors were functional at best.
In 1985, Kenworth rolled out the T600 in the USA. The new design had a sloped nose and a set-back front axle with longer front springs. In addition to fuel economy gains, the ‘Anteater’, as it was called in Australia following its 1987 release here, had better ride quality and manoeuvrability than a W Model.
At first there was some resistance to this new-look Kenworth, with a slippery shape that was devoid of KW trademarks of a bold, shiny grille and external air cleaners with air scoops. Initial T600 models had traditional twin, flat windscreens, but early 1990s models introduced a single, curved windscreen and streamlined mirrors, replacing traditional west-coasters – more heresy!
However, the Anteater was a big fuel saver for many fleets and smart owner drivers. A typical T600 specification in 1988 was: Cummins N14 Power Torque 320 engine, with 320hp at 2100rpm and 1150 lb ft (1560Nm) of peak torque at 1300rpm.
The standard box was an Eaton RT11609A, nine-speed, driving to a Rockwell SP40G tandem, mounted on Kenworth TBB-115 torsion bar suspension. GVM was 22.4 tonnes; GCM, 45 tonnes and list price back then was $172,370.
The idea of the nine-speed was to minimise gear change options for drivers and make them run at lower revs in top gear on-highway, but many buyers opted for the 13-speed transmission, because drivers didn’t like the wide ratio gaps of the nine-speed box, especially in hilly terrain.
In 1989 Kenworth Australia released the smaller, T400A streamlined prime mover – a shorter-haul derivative of the T600 – with Cummins L10 power up to 300hp.
The T600 proved amazingly durable. By 1994 the typical specification was: Cummins N14, with 430hp at 2100rpm and 1450 lb ft (1966Nm) at 1200rpm. The standard box was an Eaton RT14710B, 10-speed, driving to Eaton DS451P diffs and still using torsion bar suspension. GVM was 23 tonnes, GCM was 45 tonnes and list price of $228,080.
However, the demand for more performance and trailer capacity dictated an upgrade to the T601 model in late 1995. The standard engine remained the same, but the transmission was an Eaton RTLO16618A, 18-speed overdrive, with Eaton SSHD diffs, mounted on Kenworth’s Airglide, eight-bellows air suspension. GVM was 26 tonnes; GCM 60 tonnes (for B-Double capacity) and the list price was $248,000.
The demand for more horsepower and heavier train weights meant that the existing T601 engine bay and radiator area needed enlarging, so the T601 morphed into the T604 in 1999.
The slippery shape was retained, but with a higher and broader bonnet and mudguard moulding. The new silver mesh grille had a distinctive three-panel layout. Inside the familiar narrow Kenworth cab was a new curved dashboard that provided much improved ergonomics.
Engines including Caterpillar’s 15.8-litre 3406 and Cummins’ new Signature, with outputs up to 600hp could be accommodated and cooled. The standard T604 specification looked like this: Cummins N14-460E with 460hp at 1700rpm and peak torque of 1650 lb ft (2240Nm) at 1200rpm; Eaton RTLO16918B, 18-speed transmission; Meritor (the new brand name for Rockwell automotive components) RT46-160 diffs, rated at 20.9 tonnes and KW Airglide air suspension. GVM was 27 tonnes; GCM, 70 tonnes and list price was $264,330.
There was market pressure for a roomier cab for the streamlined T604 and industry observers thought the fibre-resin, composite-cab T2000 would be the ticket. (The author drove one briefly in the USA in the early 2000s and loved it.) This wide-cab design was proving very popular in the USA, with KW and Peterbilt badging.
The T2000 was trialled Down Under in the late-1990s, but its production wasn’t feasible in the Bayswater plant, so Australia had to wait until 2017 to get a wide-cab bonnetted truck: the T610.
So, some 30 years after its introduction Down Under the T600 and its derivatives have certainly earned a significant place in the Australian road transport industry’s history.
