Get FinancingKenworth Back In Time: 1912 To 1956
The story of Kenworth is one of innovation and adaptation. It’s a story of a company that wasn’t content to rest following its initial successes, but instead made the changes necessary to be successful, even when times got tough. The first 40 years and change of Kenworth’s history are replete with examples of adjusting on the fly to meet the demands of the day, and it serves as a foundation for what the company would become in the years to follow.
Founding
Kenworth began as Gerlinger Motor Car Works in Portland, Oregon, in 1912. Two brothers, George Gerlinger and Louis Gerlinger, Jr., set out to make their own truck called the “Gersix,” which sported a six-cylinder engine. It was officially released in 1915 and was designed specifically for logging operations.
When the company moved to Tacoma, Washington, a year later, it grabbed the attention of Edgar K. Worthington and in 1917, Worthington and his partner Captain Frederick Kent purchased the company. Kent retired two years later when his son Harry took his place at Worthington’s side. The company was reincorporated in 1923, which is also when Kent and Worthington officially changed the name to Kenworth Motor Truck Company.
1920s
Following its reincorporation in 1923, Kenworth established a headquarters in Seattle, Washington, and built its first-ever production Kenworth vehicle that same year; the company would go on to sell 80 trucks in 1924 alone. Building on a reputation for customization, it got to the point where Kenworth was producing roughly two trucks per week. All of this success eventually led to Harry Kent being named president of the company. Under his watch, Kenworth built a new factory, also in Seattle, in order to encourage further growth as well as to keep up with customer demand.
1930s
The Great Depression, which hit people hard the world over from the 1920s through the early 1940s, also impacted Kenworth in a meaningful way. As with many businesses, growth slowed considerably and production soon followed. But instead admitting defeat and folding, Kenworth looked for new markets; the company began custom-building fire trucks to meet the needs of every fire department that requested one. During these hard times, Kenworth also continued to innovate and became the first truck manufacturer to put diesel engines standard in its vehicles in 1933. The company also introduced its first sleeper cab truck configurations in this period.
1940s
The 1940s saw yet another turning point for Kenworth. Like many manufacturers, it transitioned to help support the war effort during World War II, beginning production of M-1 heavy-duty, six-wheel-drive combat vehicles nicknamed “wreckers” soon after the attack at Pearl Harbor. The company also provided parts for the B-17 Flying Fortress and B-29 Superfortress bomber aircraft during this time. In 1944, Kenworth was acquired by PACCAR (Pacific Car and Foundry), and although the company would continue to build military vehicles, it also found a sizable customer base among sugar plantations in Hawaii.
1950s
In the 1950s, Kenworth really began to stretch its legs in designing purpose-built trucks for a wide range of applications. The 853, for example, was designed to operate in Middle East oil fields, and the 801 was built for moving earth all across the United States. In 1956, the company introduced the 900 Series, a fleet of which was delivered 3,000 tons of goods to the northern Yukon to companies in the oil exploration arena. This would establish Kenworth as a manufacturer of workhorse trucks that could meet the standards of almost any industry—in almost any environment—for years to come.
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