Truck of The Day: June 13, 2012

Today's truck of the day comes from craftymore's collection and is the ERTL 1985 Kenworth T600A.

Kenworth is an American manufacturer of medium and heavy-duty Class 8 trucks based 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.
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, where it was used for logging.
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. In 1917 Worthington and his business partner Captain Frederick Kent bought the Gerlinger 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. 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.

The Kenworth T600 (also known as an Anteater) was an aerodynamic semi truck.
The T600 was a radical shift in truck design compared to its cousin the W900 (from which it was based). The major difference between the two was the massive aerodynamic face lift the T600 received, which resulted in up to 22% better fuel economy due to decreased drag.

This body style was produced from 1985 through 2007 with minimal changes.  Various diesel engines were used during this cycle including Cummins and Caterpillar. The model is true 1/64 scale or at least pretty close.  Bought this at the Spring Tri-County Farm Toy Auction near Arcola, Illinois this year in a large multi-piece lot.