Kenworth SAR Spotlight: Where form meets function

If you ask Aussie truckies what their favourite brand is, there’s a fair chance it’ll be Kenworth. The brand really is the ‘king of cool’ when it comes to blinged-up classic-style trucks.

Among the lineage of revered models, one variant really gets the blood pumping for much of Australia’s transport industry: the mighty SAR. With its signature sloping bonnet and high-riding cab, the SAR was a true innovation for Kenworth and remains a staple for so many operators today.

The short-bonnet W900SAR was the first Kenworth to be engineered and built specifically for the Australian market, designed to withstand the punishing local landscape while handling the massive trailer combinations that have become the norm Down Under. But since then, the SAR philosophy has found its way into a host of other models.

Let’s take a walk down memory lane to trace the genesis of Kenworth’s SAR models. There’ll be plenty of eye candy, too.

Let’s go right back to the start.

Kenworth was founded in 1923 in Seattle, Washington, with a plan to build trucks tougher than anything else available at the time. It would be a long time before the badge made its way to Australia, though.

The brand’s reputation for building tough trucks spread, and by the early 1950s Australian truckies George Blomfield and Ed Cameron were eager to see if the Kenworth trucks stood up.

This was the beginning of Kenworth in Australia as we know it.

The pair visited the Kenworth factory in America before deciding the big, bonneted trucks belonged on Australian roads. They began importing the trucks and, after proving their appeal, established a 56,000 square foot Kenworth manufacturing plant in Bayswater, Victoria.

By the early 1970s, the Bayswater plant was pumping out an array of American-style trucks like the K125 and W900, which gained a reputation for being tough – but the major issue was that Australia was tougher.

The blistering heat, rough roads and punishing distance demanded a new breed of prime mover. Operators needed a platform that could house high-horsepower engines without overheating, while still maximising payload.

Kenworth’s Australian engineers answered the call with a model that offered both form and function. In July 1975, the W900SAR rolled off the production line.

The ‘SAR’ in the name stood for ‘Short-bonnet, Australian Right-hand drive’, offering a set-forward front axle and steep, sloping bonnet. It was designed to conquer local conditions, and that it did.

The genius of the SAR was that every element of its design served a functional purpose, while also amounting to a truck that looked unlike anything else. It was a stunner, and Aussie truckies couldn’t get enough of it.

The trailblazing W900SAR featured a high-set cab that allowed for a beefier radiator to keep the high-horsepower Cummins and Detroit Diesel engines in optimal operating temperatures across the harsh Australian summers. This superior cooling allowed the SAR to pull heavier loads for longer, making it the perfect platform for road train and outback work.

Another benefit of the raised cabin was the ability to fit a battery and toolboxes beneath it, enhancing the SAR’s appeal with owner-operators who lived on the road.

The SAR’s short, sloped bonnet offered better visibility than the long, flat bonnets of the American models, while its compact nature also meant it boasted impressive payload, making it an instant hit.

Across the W900SAR’s life, from 1975 to 1987, it became the go-to for the nation’s toughest jobs, from logging to livestock. Its looks also spawned a generation of truck-lovers who dreamed of someday owning one.

The W900SAR established a design philosophy that found its way into many of Kenworth's subsequent models.

The combination of a set-forward front axle for optimal weight distribution, a sloped bonnet for superior visibility and a high-set cab for maximum cooling and storage was a formula for success, but the nameplate didn’t see a return until the 2004 release of the T404SAR. This was followed by the T408SAR in 2008.

Later, it would find its way onto multiple models to cover a wider array of applications, with the T610SAR in 2016 and smaller T410 SAR in 2020. Both models achieved a strong following, proving the SAR formula was still a winner for serious B-double and tipper and dog duties.

Kenworth celebrated its 50th anniversary in Australia in 2021, and to mark the occasion it released the limited-edition Legend SAR, which paid homage to the mighty W900SAR. The Legend SAR went on-sale for just one day and more than 750 operators placed an order. Needless to say, it’s the rarest of the short-bonnet models.

In 2025, Kenworth revealed its latest models to wear the badge with the launch of the T420SAR and T620SAR at the Brisbane Truck Show, which offer a modernised version of the proven formula complete with Euro 6 Cummins and PACCAR powertrains, a technology-rich driver environment, and modern safety features.

The SAR is an iconic Australian truck that has undoubtedly shaped Kenworth’s reputation as a local leader, and it remains one of the most recognisable models on the highway.

In the early days of Australia’s road transport industry, American and British trucks were adapted for local conditions, but the W900SAR represents one of the first homegrown designs, built specifically to handle everything the harsh outback could throw at it.

The nameplate remains a sign that Kenworth listens to its customers, building tough solutions that will stand the test of time across a range of applications. The best place to build a truck for Australia, is in Australia, and Kenworth knows it.

All that aside, is there a better-looking truck out there? Well, there aren’t many!