IXO 1:43 1950 Kenworth Bullnose: Ross Mackie Transport

Kenworth Trucks, Inc. is an American-based truck manufacturer. Founded in 1923 as the successor company to Gerlinger Motors, Kenworth specializes in production of heavy-duty (Class 8) and medium-duty (Class 5-7) commercial vehicles. Headquartered in Seattle suburb Kirkland, Washington, Kenworth has been a wholly owned subsidiary of PACCAR since 1945, operating alongside sister company (and marketplace rival) Peterbilt Motors.

Kenworth marked several firsts in truck production; alongside the first truck produced with a standard diesel-fuel engine, the company introduced a raised-roof sleeper cab, and the first heavy-duty truck with an aerodynamically optimized body design. The Kenworth W900 has been produced continuously since 1961, serving as one of the longest production runs of any vehicles in automotive history.

By 1950, Kenworth had grown outside the Pacific Northwest, marketing vehicles across the western half of the United States and across nearly 30 countries worldwide. In 1951, the company received an order for 1,700 Model 853s from ARAMCO in the Middle East. The Model 801 was introduced as an earth-moving dump truck, adopting one of the first cab-beside-engine configurations.

In 1955, Kenworth began the redesign of its COE product line, launching the CSE (Cab-Surrounding-Engine); in line with the Bull-nose, the CSE shared its underpinnings with the 500-series trucks and did not have a tilting cab.

In 1956, Pacific Car and Foundry revised its ownership of Kenworth, changing it from an independent subsidiary to a division. The same year, the 900-series was introduced with an all-new "drop-frame" chassis, with the CSE cabover replaced by the K-series COE (derived from the 900 series). In 1957, Kenworth ended bus production, selling the rights to its product line

At 85, you’d think Ross Mackie would be happy to take it slow during his golden years. After all, the Mackie companies are in the capable hands of his four sons, he’s got a barn full of antique trucks, and there is a myriad of trucking friends he can call up anytime for a lunch date.

But most weekdays you can find him down at Boundary Road in Whitby, Ont., looking in on Ross Mackie Transport, or visiting at Mackie Moving Systems on Bloor Street, or he might just zip across the 401 to drop in on Mackie’s Harley-Davidson dealership.

He’s had to give up his licence – macular degeneration is playing havoc with his retinas – and he’s thinking about getting a new left knee (a lifetime of double-clutching has taken its toll). But these days he is chauffeured by Becky, a young woman from the office who takes him around to all the terminals.

“I love connecting with the employees, the drivers and the office staff, that’s the heart of this company,” he says.

For the sons of Ross Mackie: Paul, Dean, Norm and Scott, it was almost expected that they would work in the family business. Dean Mackie, now president of Ross Mackie Transport, remembers sitting in high school and watching a Mackie truck on Adelaide Street. “I wished I was driving instead of sitting in class, and I knew my dad was probably wishing the same thing,” he recalls.