The depths of the Depression was a difficult time for Clessie Cummins to get his fledgling diesel engine business going. But in 1933, he finally convinced a major truck manufacturer—Kenworth—to build standard production diesel trucks. Kenworth chief engineer John Holmstrom added his own idea—a vertical exhaust pipe behind the truck’s cab, to direct the inevitably smoky exhaust away from pedestrians. Thus was born the iconic big American diesel truck.
Cummins had started his company in 1919, a few years after Rudolf Diesel’s patents in the US expired. Initially his focus for the large, heavy and low-output motors was for marine use, but in 1929 he installed one of his new Model U engines in a used 1925 Packard 7-passenger limousine, undoubtedly chosen for its ability to take the 1200 lb diesel engine, both in size and weight. That front tire looks to be oversized for that reason.
Cummins increased its output from 40hp to 50hp @1000rpm, and drove it from Indianapolis, IN to New York, a distance of 792 miles. With an average speed of 31.7 mph on the roads of the time, the 6,000 lb diesel Packard yielded 31.4 mpg, using very cheap (4 cents/gal) fuel oil.
The Packard was to be shown at the New York Auto Show, but it attracted more attention from the marine industry exhibitors across the street than the automotive exhibitors.
Cummins went on a publicity blitz in the next couple of years that included several cross-country trips in custom-converted trucks and buses like this Indiana as well as numerous high-speed and Indy car racers (we covered the Indy 500 racers here).
Except for a few one-off custom installations, no truck makers took the bait. It was in the depths of the Depression, and there was no interest in making the investment to adapt the very slow selling trucks of the time. Cummins’ financial backer William Irwin had a majority interest in California-based Purity Stores, and agreed to convert the small fleet of White trucks to the new Model H diesel.
In 1932, West Coast truck builder Kenworth decided the time was right to commit to the nascent diesel market, and began offering the Cummins HA-4 as a standard factory model. Kenworth’s first diesel-powered production model was built for California-based Valley Motor Express, which requested the truck be shipped down the West Coast from Seattle most of the way by water so it would arrive truly new.
The HA-4 had a 4.875″ bore and 6″ stroke for 448 cubic inches. Fed by Cummins’ own disc fuel injection pump and pushrod-actuated injectors, it made 100 hp @1800 rpm. The larger six cylinder version had 672 cubic inches.
Doesn’t sound like much power, but 100hp was actually a pretty healthy amount for the times, when typical truck speeds on the level was 35-45 mph. Fuel economy was considerably greater compared to a comparable gas engine, and overall fuel costs were even much lower yet, thanks to very cheap diesel fuel at the time. The diesel revolution was on.
By the mid-late ’30s, Cummins-powered Kenworths—and other truck brands—were becoming increasingly common, especially as the distances they covered became greater.
Those greater distances were facilitated by another Kenworth innovation: the first factory integrated sleeper cab, also in 1933. The combination of the two were key factors in the growth of long-haul trucking.
By the 1940s, the classic Kenworth look was already well established.
Along with Peterbilt, the two big West Coast truck makers became the icons of the big American diesel truck.
Related reading:
Big Cummins Diesels Come To The Indy 500
1951 Kenworth With 600 HP 2180 Cubic Inch Hall-Scott V12 – Fastest Road Truck Of Its Time
Very interesting … I never would have thought that one of the West Coast companies (thus KW, because I knew it wasn’t Fageol/Peterbilt) would have been first to use diesel. I always assumed it was Mack or a MidWest company like White or Diamond T.
In 1950, Mack Trucks was Cummins largest customer as Mack hadn’t offered thier own diesel engine yet
Mack’s first diesel, the 131 horsepower ED519 incorporating the Lanova combustion chamber design, was launched in 1938. Like Buda and others, Mack Trucks had purchased a technology license from Germany’s Lanova AG, led by the German engineer and Lanova concept inventor Franz Lang.
But Mack did also offer Cummins and Buda diesels in their trucks.
Fascinating automotive (truck!) history!!!! 🙂 DFO
Any idea when driver comfort started to get any real consideration?
Cabs started to become roomier in the ’50s and ’60s. And better insulated and more pleasant in the ’70s and ’80s. It was a gradual thing, not unlike cars.
US trucks still drag the chain on ergonomics and driver comfort, the makers seem welded to multiple gauges all unreadable from the drivers view multitudes if switches you have to look at to operate, the Japanese can put the whole lot on a stalk in finger tip reach from the steering wheel the relevant gauges fit on the dash in front of the driver and as display screen will alert faults and they are not well insulated or particularly quiet so tiring to drive.
50s union contracts did not specify a heater, so in disputes with drivers the co’s pulled em out! Its damn cold in a heaterless cab!
Fitting that the first diesel should also be the first with a straight pipe exhaust. Any muffler to speak of?
Muffler? What’s that?
I know it’s all in the gearing, and the low top speeds at which one could safely operate a vehicle in those days, but I’m nevertheless always astounded by what could be accomplished with 100 horsepower in the era.
By comparison, I could only come up with 2 cars for sale in the US today that have <100HP – Mirage and Spark.
On the other hand, bread vans and UPS trucks were running around with 100 hp Cummins four cylinders until recently (they offered a program to repower the Ford 300 trucks). I’m guessing they were probably a similar weight too.
As an aside, that’s really a pretty impressive specific output considering. The engine they put in the bread vans was a 3.9L turbo. ~240 CI. In non turbo form, it made as little as 50.
A horsepower number tells one *nothing*. It’s just a man-made thing that’s calculated (not measured) from torque and engine RPM. Or to put it another way: Check your vehicle’s stated horsepower rating, hitch up that number of actual horses, and see if they’ll manage to haul your ride at 70 MPH on the interstate – for 300 nonstop miles.
What is important is torque, and the engine’s torque curve. It’s not unusual to see an engine rated in the 300 to 400 horsepower range haul 80,000 pounds. How? Well over 1,000 ft./lbs. of torque. . . .
A horsepower number tells one *nothing*.
It tells one very much, as in what the maximum amount of work an a engine is capable of. It’s essential in determining how fast a car or truck will go, or how heavy a load it can haul. Which means a car gas V6 engine making 300 hp but only 267 lb-ft. of torque can haul the exact same 80,000 pound load at the same speed as a big diesel making 300 hp and 1,000 lb-ft. of torque. The only difference is that the car engine will need more gears to multiply its smaller torque.
Check your vehicle’s stated horsepower rating, hitch up that number of actual horses, and see if they’ll manage to haul your ride at 70 MPH on the interstate – for 300 nonstop miles.
What’s that supposed to mean? Makes no sense. In any case, it doesn’t take 300 hp to roll down the interstate at 70 mph; it only takes some 30-35 hp for a typical car. The 300 hp is what it would take to drive at its top speed, which would be some 150 mph.
FWIW, if you put 300 horses on a treadmill in a trailer, they most definitely will haul your ride at 70 mph on the interstate, and more. Obviously they can’t run that fast.
You are technically correct that the relatively small automobile engine of the same hp rating could pull the 80,000 lb rig if paired with the proper gearing to multiply it’s torque. One additional factor should be considered, however — duty cycle. Commercial Diesel engines are designed to operate at near full horsepower output almost continuously, whereas automobile engines are typically designed for much more intermittent periods of full power output — usually during peak acceleration. If such power were sustained over long periods of time, such an engine would surely have a very short service life.
I have been to to tractor pulling competitions where the high horsepower machines get half or three quarters of the way down the track .. they then hook up a 5 hp steam traction engine . It pulls the same sledge right off the end of track withput any wherspin and had to stop because a fence got in its way. . Its all about gearing
It’s not gearing; it’s traction. Those steam traction engines had steel lug wheels, and they weighed enormous amounts. There’s no way they could spin their wheels.
Paul,
Any possibility you have access to the remaining portion of that report on the Packard-Cummins? I would like to forward it to a friend who writes for the Packard club publications.
Nope. I just found that page at Cummins’ history site. Maybe George F. or Eric here can find it.
Wow, that’s a challenging one — I’ve looked around and can’t find any more than the first page from that article. I’ll keep looking, but that seems to be a tough one to find.
Still can’t find that article, but as a consolation prize, here’s a writeup from the Indianapolis Star about Cummins’ Indianapolis-to-NY run in the diesel passenger car (no mention of the car’s make though, but still it’s an interesting article).
His trip seemed to get more attention in Indiana than in New York — the NY Times devoted just a two-paragraph blurb to his arrival.
…to direct the inevitably smoky exhaust away from pedestrians…
That was something I detested when travelling by car in Europe during the 1970s and 1980s. The exhaust tips were set outward to the left rather than down to the ground as in the US. On hot days, we’d rolled the windows down only to be spewed by the diesel lorries right in our faces as they passed us in the opposite direction. Thus, leaving the left side rolled up when travelling on the two-lane roads through the mountains and hills. And right side on the Autobahnen. Geesh…
In the US, it’s buses that I remember most doing that. Seems like vertical exhausts didn’t become commonplace on transit buses until the 1980s or so, which seems odd, since buses tend to operate in pedestrian-heavy areas.
GMC transit buses started having a top exhaust around 1970 or shortly thereafter. But before that time, they were down low and quite obnoxious.
Another great bit of history, thanx Paul .
-Nate
I believe you have a typo. Clessie Cummins not Chessie
Fixed now. Thanks.
As mentioned before claims of “firsts” are often a grey area or carefully qualified. In this case “American,” even so, not so fast. lol
I recently posted a similar image of the Cummins/Packard diesel to dethrone some other “first,” I don’t recall the topic this minute.
M.A.N. publicly displayed a diesel motor truck in 1924. In ’25 it was a production piece available for purchase. No, not of North American origin.
Point being typically there are almost always several rats (colloquialism, no offense to any pioneer) simultaneously racing for the fresh cheese. lol
There is a website touting a 1936 Cadillac as the first automobile to be fitted with a Cummins diesel. Then there are photos of a new 1934 Auburn convertible sedan fitted with a new Cummins diesel. Also on the net is a photo of an early 20s Packard race car with a Cummins diesel.
That said, the historical timeline on the factory webpage for Cummins Diesel, shows the 1925 Packard here as having been fitted with the new 4 cylinder diesel, and driving to NYC in 1929. It also shows a photo of the same Packard with good ‘ol Clessie Cummins behind the wheel.
Bill, there’s numerous articles citing this 1925 Packard limo as the first car to have a Cummins diesel swapped in. There was also a Packard roadster, which came a bit later. And then others, including an Auburn. And the race cars.
Sorry, I think we cross-posted.
I was replying to Bill per the Cadillac being the “first” diesel car.
My reply wasn’t directed at your post
Paul, I believe we are in agreement here! The 1925 Packard was the first automobile to have a production diesel motor installed and driven. Not a 1936 Cadillac that Mr. Cummins owned later on.
Y’all might be agreement…
“production” the operative word?
But don’t push Peugeot around, they pioneered A LOT of breakthroughs.
I’m not allowed to shoot from the hip anymore so I’ll bring reference:
Autocar, Feb 26 1923 reports two nearly identical Peugeot automobiles used in comparison, one petrol, one diesel powered.
It’s not speculation, the cars made the usual industry rounds.
But… someone piped in in ’24 to say that Peugeot was at least #2 with an oil engine. lol
Again claims of definitive “firsts” are usually sketchy at best.
Although originally usually accurately reported and qualified, when being repeated sometimes that detail fades away.
Good article, Paul! Clessie Cummins commenced in 1919 with a one-lunger, if I am correct. All of them were returned to him! This did not deter him from his progress with Diesel power. Sometime in the 1960’s or 1970’s, I am unsure of the date, a Cummins-powered speedboat using a V-903 ran in a race around Manhattan Island. It was winning until the driver of the speedboat took too sharp a curve at high speed and the boat flipped. At the same times that Clessie Cummins was developing four-cycle Diesels, Alexander Winton was developing two-cycle Diesels. It was a Winton-powered Diesel under the brand name “Cleveland Diesel” that powered the first locomotive. It hauled six passenger cars from Denver to Chicago and consumed $13.35 in fuel! This run commenced the demise of steam locomotion. No firemen were needed, no stokers, no stops for water, and no need to have a mandatory full maintenance check after each run. I love Diesel power if you had not noticed.
At the same times that Clessie Cummins was developing four-cycle Diesels, Alexander Winton was developing two-cycle Diesels.
Winton built some good diesel engines, but they were very heavy, large and low-rpm four stroke units. After GM bought Winton in 1930, Charles Kettering led the development of the first Winton/GM two stroke diesel.
Much as G.M. gets bashed around here lol we’d better give ’em a nod for their part in the Winton project
We have, right here:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/trackside-classic/the-birth-of-the-gmemd-two-stroke-diesel-engine-very-well-ket-we-are-now-in-the-diesel-engine-business-excerpts-from-my-years-with-gm-by-alfred-sloan/
Is the truck pictured as one of the coast-to-coast test trucks possibly an “Indiana” brand cab and chassis? I have a vague recollection of them as one of the regional brands that cam and went in that era, like Federal and Corbett brands. The cab in the pictured truck looks quite up-market and carlike compared to many of the commercial vehicles of those days.
Somewhere, I read a VERY detailed account of the trip.
Could’ve been old paper.
Things like: we twisted an axle and hitchhiked 50 miles to find a blacksmith, who…
I believe it was a record made in real time.
Seems like there were some challenges with making timely delivery if the race car too car
Sorry, I don’t recall the source now, just pointing out that if someone is interested in digging deeper, it is chronicled, somewhere.
Jim, you may be thinking of another Cummins-engine cross-country trip. In 1932, Cummins outfitted a bus with a diesel engine and tried for a record-setting trip from New York to Los Angeles.
The bus was full of passengers too, including Clessie Cummins himself. Cummins hired race driver Dave Evans to drive the bus (he had driven for Cummins in publicity events before). All went well until an axle shaft broke in New Mexico — they tried to quickly arrange for a replacement part to get flown in, but somehow got a nearby machinist to either weld or replace the broken part, and they were on their way again.
Even with the axle-related delay, they still broke the record they were seeking to break; they reached Los Angeles in under 4 days.
There were lots of cross-country events like this in the 1930s — but to me, this one sounds similar to what you’re thinking of.
It is an Indiana truck, which were built between 1910 and 1932, when they were acquired by White Motors.
The “unidentified” truck is definitely an Indiana….
Yes it is. I’ve amended the text.
Great article.
I can’t get over the weight of that 6.2 litre diesel in the Packard, though after quite a bit of scouting, I can’t find a weight for a Twin Six to compare. I have found out that the Twin had an alloy crankcase, and the Packard weights given for a laden limousine chassis and body is about 4,500lbs. Given the 6,000lbs mentioned here, I can only speculate that that diesel is as brutally heavy as it seems. (I know it’s aircraft tech from at least 10 years on, but the weight of a 28 litre Packard Merlin was only about 1300lbs!)
Imagine the aficiondo’s outrage today if someone stuck a 4 cyl diesel in their Twin Six…
Bellissime le fotografie
Did any one notice the lead pic seemed to be a 2 trailer road train configuration pinned 1933 ?
I do enjoy the meme version of the Clessie/Packard pic….
Me too! 🙂
That’s why KenWorth is the worlds best and will always be!
Americas best maybe, worlds best no not by a long shot.
@ Brice ;
Some claim KW, other PeterBuilt, others swear by FreightSharkers….
The one thayt works for _you_ is always the best one, right ? .
-Nate
What year did the competition between Cat, Cummins, and Detroit start🤔
Detroit Diesels were first offered in GMC trucks in 1939. That started the big competition between DD and Cummins.
In the 1940s and 1950s, Buda and Waukesha were also big players in the diesel market, and there were a number of minor ones too. Mack started building their own diesels in about 1938.
Cat did not enter the on-road truck engine market until much later, and was always a minor player compared to DD, Cummins, and Mack. I can’t seem to find the year when they first started selling truck engines, but my guess is not until the 1960s, and perhaps not until after 1970.
Caterpillar first offered truck Diesel engines in 1940. Attached is an introductory article from Commercial Car Journal magazine from February 1940. Sterling offered several models using the D312 and D468 for a short time. Not many were sold. Caterpillar abandoned plans for the truck engine market not long after and didn’t re-enter until later – not sure when.
Did not know that. Thanks!
Here is a page from a Sterling truck publication showing various truck models with the Caterpillar automotive Diesel engine installed. c1941
CAT – first engines
I had a special cat engine project at Freightliner in late 60 – early 61. I managed the engineering and production of 18 off-highway construction units using the D343 engine. Were were told it was the first time use as a truck engine. They were for PIRINI Construction and were used on an earth fill damn project in Greece. After 3-4 years they were shipped back to US, repaired and used in Florida on canal projects.
My dad was the fleet and manufacturing superintendent for ARROW Trasportation truck-trailer tankers, Portland OR, and they built their own trucks starting in 34 or 35 using the Hall-Scott 961 ci engine until 1947. Supposedly they were the only 100% Hall-Scott fleet in the US.
Extremely interesting.
Thanks for sharing.
By the way I am a big Detroit Diesel fan.
I had thet in my fishing trawlers.
6-71’s forever!
Thanks for the very interesting article Paul Niedermeyer!
I would like to bring to your attention that Sterling was very early in adopting Cummins Diesel power as an option. By October 1932 they published a spec sheet for their new model FD195H with Cummins 6-H power (125HP 6-cylinder in-line with 672 cubic inch displacement). The first two of the new model were built as single axle shaft drive trucks with extended frame so that a tag axle could be added. The customer was Valley Freight Lines of Fresno, California. I got much of this information from Ernest R Sternberg’s great book “History of Sterling Trucks” published by SAE in 1993 (SP-941). Two model FD195H Sterlings were built in 1933 according to Branham Auto Ref Book from 1938. By June 1935 Pacific Freight Lines owned 77 Diesel powered trucks, 42 of which were Sterlings (from a Cummins ad in June 1935 Commercial Car Journal page 100).
Thanks for this information. And i just confirmed it in my American Truck & Bus Spotter’s Guide. Without knowing the exact manufacture date of the Kenworth and Sterling, we may never know which one was truly the first.
As to the vertical exhaust stack, it looks like Kenworth is still on solid ground with that.
I agree that until we know the date of manufacture / assembly / delivery of various manufacturers we won’t know for sure who was first. Gramm, Ward LaFrance, Hayes Anderson and perhaps others (Hendrickson?), were also early adopters. Just how early is up for debate.
As to vertical exhaust stacks, there is an anecdotal story in Clessie Cummins’ book “My Days with the Diesel”. I don’t have a copy of that book, so I can’t verify the details. From memory: A large trucking concern (Purity Foods-?) in the Southwest purchased 2 White trucks from their local dealer that were built new with no engine. The White factory had refused to provide a new truck with a Cummins Diesel in it. The dealer, with the help of Cummins, installed the Cummins Diesels. The 2 trucks ran over long distances, but also traveled in areas heavy with traffic. The smoke from the exhaust made a cloud behind the truck when it was stopped at a light. A confused motorist drove into the back of the truck and was seriously injured. The police impounded the truck. Cummins, or one of the Cummins sales team, went to help recover the truck for the owner. The individual negotiated for the release of the truck by promising to install a vertical exhaust stack (or actually installing one). The vertical exhaust stack was born – it was not the invention of KW or any other truck manufacturer. This accident occurred prior to any manufacturer offering the Cummins Diesel engine. It would be interesting to verify the details of this story.
, currently my wages are earned in an ancient Sterling with Detroit 60series power it does the job ok, only 8 axles so usually 45,000kg max so it pulls ok but on my daily loop I see several old Sterlings still going strong the one Im in has over 2 million kms racked up.According to the operators book they could be had with CAT Cummins or DD power, Od prefer a CAT C15 but I didnt buy it