Old School Cool: Trevor Smith’s Kenworth K100E

Words: Warren Aitken · Photography: Warren Aitken

Trevor Smith spends his days with a beautiful 21-year-old K100E, but beyond its good looks is a complete history which Warren Aitken extracts in this article.

Now it would be fair to say that there aren’t many of us out there that get the pleasure of spending their working days with a stunning 21-year-old. Recently I was able to catch up with a man who can genuinely make that claim, Trevor Smith and his 1993 Kenworth K100E stretch cab.

If there has ever been an ideally matched man and machine Trevor Smith and his limited edition K100E is that amalgamation.

Both the truck and owner are old school, reliable and most important of all, hard working. Sitting down with Trevor for this interview was an absolute pleasure. Trevor started out many years ago washing trucks for Brunskill Transport near Wagga Wagga, NSW. He learnt the ropes quite literally as tautliners were not a luxury they had back then.

He would spend his school holidays travelling with drivers on Sydney runs until the day came when he received his licence and there was no holding him back. Trevor found a job driving an iconic butterbox Acco spreading super on local farms before his then boss put him in a 1418 Mercedes and pointed him to Melbourne.

Trevor recalls his bosses comment “he’s either going to like it or tell me to shove it up my ar…,”his boss said, with the latter actually being the case at first as the country boy who had never even read a map book was thrust into the busy Melbourne metropolis.

He was rewarded, in the thinnest sense of the word, with a 12 month stint in a 3070 Mercedes before his love of Kenworths was ignited with a 1978 cab over. “That was my introduction to Kenworths and that’s all I’ve wanted to drive from that day on,” Trevor told me, as I point out the massive difference jumping from a 3070 to a cabover Kenworth he also admits “no one would wave to you in a 3070 or a 1418 Benz”.

The introduction of the Kenworth coincided with the beginning of another of Trevor’s addictions.

“Once I got the bug on the Hume, that’s all I wanted to do,” he says.

Trevor ran the Hume, or “Sesame Street” as he informed me, for quite a while. He claimed it was “a racetrack” but he warmly remembers that in those days, “You were never alone, everyone looked after each other”.

During one of his runs back into Sydney, Trevor’s attention was captured by a stunning looking cabover Kenworth with a brand new Mobil tanker in tow.

That particular rig was the pride and joy of Brian Alvis, a fellow Kenworth cohort and contractor to Mobil fuels.

What made it so unique was the stretch cab side of it. In 1987 Kenworth Australia began production on the E-model cab. The cabover K100E base model was a standard size cab. Alongside the launch of the K100E they also produced a stretch cab aerodyne as a prototype for Lanelli Transport of Sydney.

Lanelli’s 1987 model stretch cab aerodyne was to become the first of only 28 that Kenworth would build over the next nine years in the E-models. Though factory built by Kenworth each truck was customised to meet any particular clients’ orders.

In 1993 Brian Alvis, contracting to Mobil fuels received the 23rd of these limited edition trucks. The 23rd K100E stretch cab aerodyne came with a Detroit Series 60 and 18 overdrive box pushing through long legged 3.9 diffs. Kenworth leaf springs holding the Rockwell front axle would help steer the 450 hp Detroit down the open road.

It would be several years and an entire different state before Trevor would end up owning that awesome Kenworth he saw on the Hume. While the Kenworth worked faultlessly for Brian for several years before he sold it onto Steve Sutherland who switched the fuel tank for a bitumen tank.

Trevor left the south with his kids and chased the sunshine up in Queensland. He picked up a job with his former company Brunskill Transport while he settled in Brisbane before finally venturing out on his own.

In 1993 Trevor bought his first truck, a 1973 cabover Kenworth. “I could see the potential to better myself” he says of his move to become an owner driver. He was not alone as several of his mates at the time were making a good go of it. Trevor’s commitment to old school values of dig in and do a good job kept the work steady for him.

“It was difficult to get long-term work,” he said.

“You just keep doing the job well and the calls would come to you.”

That ‘73 Kenworth kept food on the table for 17 years, working hard as Trevor rebuilt and customised it from the ground up.

“Only thing left to do was repaint it, which would have involved re-sheeting it, and then I would have had her for life,” he says.

So Trevor decided to purchase a new truck, his mind set on a day cab Peterbilt. It just so happened to be ten minutes up the road at Steve Sutherland’s place, where he was looking at a Peterbilt for a mate that he noticed a large green garden ornament he had once seen rocketing along the Hume.

“That was it, I had to have it,” Trevor said.

The green tint was moss and dew added to the paint work from a year of sitting around unused, nothing a bit of elbow grease wouldn’t fix.

Steve had removed one of the fuel tanks to allow an oil pump and toolbox to be fitted and had also fitted a bull bar to it but kindly offered to restore it to its original look if Trevor preferred, as he still had the tank and alloy bumper.

The factory fitted white fibreglass bumper had been long since replaced after an all too common disagreement with a Kangaroo. “I knew it was a special truck, I just didn’t know how special at the time,” Trevor admits.

It was only once he had the keys in his hand Trevor started to learn the history of the truck. Aside from being number 23 of only 28 built he would also learn that it was one of only two that was fitted with six fuel tanks.

Another oddity was Brian Alvis specification of Alcoa 10 stud rims instead of the standard Malco Spider Hubs.

It was also fitted with on board scales and a tachograph. Cosmetically Brian had custom lights fitted below the cab as well as alloy guards and a custom paint job. All this was designed to have a heavy American influence on the look of the truck.

When Trevor got it home he decided he didn’t want to change the look of the truck at all. In fact his whole approach to trucking is based around keeping it old school.

“Driving a truck that’s a bit older, I think I’ve got an advantage. If I break down on the side of the road I have a better chance of being able to fix it myself,” he says.

Trevor’s hands-on approach to trucking is evident in his pride. The majority of cosmetic work and minor services done on the truck have involved Trevor. The old school lights below the fuel tank were added by him, though old school in looks they are all LED lights offering a better illumination and less upkeep. Regular services are performed by Trevor with the truck heading off to the mechanic for major services. With a rebuild done at one million kilometres and the old girl sitting on 1.8 million at the moment, Trevor happily informs me how well it runs without burning a drop of oil between services.

“Those D-Dec 2s go forever, unbreakable,” he exclaims.

Obviously he has replaced run of the mill parts due to wear and age but the 450 hp Detroit buried beneath the big cab has put in a faultless performance over its 21 years.

When the work is beyond Trevor’s capabilities or ingenuity he still likes to stay involved.

“If I go somewhere to get something done, I like to be able to get hands on too, at least I can say I’ve had some part in it,” he tells Australian Custom Trucks.

A prime example was when Trevor decided to replace the plastic guards on the truck. Originally factory fitted with alloy guards at Brian Alvis’s specifications, Trevor wanted to return to a similar look with a slight modern touch. The painted guards are the work of Retruck Australia in Brisbane, who very kindly allowed Trevor to invade their busy workshop and help fit out the new guards.

For a 21 year old truck she certainly looks the part but to back up its good looks it still works hard for its money. With steady work for Owens Transport and any other work Trevor can find to keep it busy, the Kenny can be seen anywhere from Moranbah to Roma. Gas fields to container wharfs, Trevor has a flat top tucked in behind it and shows his age with his love of a good tarp job. The paintwork has had a few touch ups which is expected with almost two million kilometres in the Australian sun. The interior is completely original and still sporting the build plate for Brian Alvis from 1987. The condition of the interior is another compliment to not just the build of the classic Kenworth trucks but also to this truck’s only three owners, Brian, Steve and Trevor.

All in all as far as factory built Australian custom trucks go, this 1993 Kenworth K100E is a stunning example.

Rear Vision: where are they now?

Do you know where this truck is today, or have an update on its story? We would love to hear from its owners, drivers or anyone who helped build it.