Record turnout of Kenworths at 100th global anniversary

Kenworth enthusiasts in New Zealand gathered at Waikato’s Mystery Creek to celebrate the brand’s 100th global anniversary with a record-breaking 756 mighty rigs on display. The event, organised by local distributor Southpac Trucks, took place over Waitangi weekend and saw hundreds of spectators arrive through the gates.

The Kenworth-only event eclipsed any single brand truck show ever staged in the Southern Hemisphere – including the 2014 event in Mt Maunganui which saw 300 Kenworths on show to mark 50 years of the truck brand being imported into New Zealand. With a huge nine-hectare footprint set aside for the show, there was plenty of room for the big rigs to shine.

Registrations opened in July last year and a large number of local Kenworth owners and operators took part to make it a special day to remember. The scale of the venue ensured a big turnout and saw half a kilometre of Kenworth grills in one row alone.

Planning for the centenary show began in early 2020 but was put on hold due to the disruption of Covid-19. It was originally meant to take place in 2023 to coincide with the official global anniversary. Southpac Trucks general sales manager Richard Smart says Kenworth owners are known to be passionate about the trucks they run. He says the event was about bringing them together in one place to celebrate the best of the brand.

“For me it’s all about the customers. This is an event we put on for the owners, the operators and the drivers and it was all about getting them together. You can see them standing around yacking to people they haven’t seen for ages,” he says.

Source: transporttalk