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This is an old Kenworth Bullnose. It was owned by Norman Pick and was photographed by David A Bontrager. Bontrager thinks this classic tractor is owned now by Randy Pick. The Picks are in Cimarron, New Mexico, so if anyone’s out there maybe you can let us know.
Kenworth 500 bull noses were made after World War II. The produced these trucks in vintage times. 1948 to 1956. They were the first postwar trucks with the cabover layout. They used the doors, roof elements and chassis from the conventional models of the same 500 series. The cab of this truck didn’t tilt up to get at the engine. It was fixed to the frame. To service the bullnoses, the driver or mechanic would get at their engines from the cockpit or from below the truck. The bull nose Kenworths came in both day and sleeper models. The range included model 521 (4×2), 523 (6×4) and 524 (6×2). As you can probably guess, the name of the trucks was a nickname. It refers to the shape of the front end of the tractor.
These old trucks originally cost around $25,000 new. Here’s (at the bottom) another couple of Kenworth bullnose just so you can get an idea of what they were like.
This photo at the top of the page has become quite popular, but it’s originally from The David A. Bontrager collection on Hanks Truck Pictures. Visit them.
Here’s an update, thanks to all the people commenting on the social media posts. A lot of owner operators and truck drivers know and remember this truck — both the model and this particular one. It’s been spotted north of Indy, and in Logan Utah.
But two fellows named Steve Blaschke and Ed Blaschke were able to give some detailed info: it’s a 1955, and it still has compression brake. The classic semi truck is a fried of his families.
