Welcome to number 11 of the fantastic, limited edition Western Star Cheyenne series trucks – number 11 of 11 actually. They are a throwback to the birth of Western Star trucks here in Australia and a tribute to the ‘built tough’ trucks that have been gracing our Australian roads since the early ’80s.
I’m going to start today with a little history lesson because the Western Star story is far from a simple one. It was known as a Canadian truck, though it was a division of a US company. It is now owned by a German automotive conglomerate, although, for almost a decade, it was actually an Australian-owned truck manufacturer.
Western Star Trucks Australia built Australia’s first RTL (road transferable locomotive) that could run on public roads and also jump on the rail network and pull up to 900 tonnes. In the 1980s you could get customised packages with native American-inspired names. Hence why we are here. Let’s take a closer look at Western Star’s history.
In 1967, White Motor company added the White Western Star brand to its existing White and Autocar resume. The idea was to operate the headquarters from White’s existing Ohio base but build the trucks up in Canada at a new factory in Kelowna, British Colombia.
While the new Western Star trucks would incorporate influences from the current White models, like the Road Boss, it would also use features from the Autocar stables. The first Western Stars were built around the Autocar cab. The idea was to build a lightweight, tough as hell truck that could
