Who designed/styled the Superliner?

[Vladislav]

2 hours ago, Whiskymack said:

It seems that now they import Australian built Macks but am I right in thinking that Mack New Zealand used to make their own trucks because it looks like they used to have products like the RB unique to the NZ market?

Also, the second generation 1980's Superliner in New Zealand just looked like a mark 1 with rectangular headlights whilst the Superliner 2 in Australia was a taller truck with more space under the cab for airflow in hot conditions.

Would be (damn) interesting to learn what NZ Superliner II used of the chassis.

The hood on your 2nd photo looks definitely of American style. And the battery box with air tank attached to also points to the US style RW chassis.

[mrsmackpaul]

Well I'm not 100% sure of what NewZealand did 

I do know they had fully imported made in the good old US of A right RHD Macks

They also had fully imported Australian Macks 

They also made their own Macks 

Some like Australia were of their own design 

There is a book getting done for release 2022 to commemorate 50 years of NewZealand made Macks

I put the link up some time ago to order a copy, if you did (like I did) well done, if you didn't, tought titties you've missed out

Paul

[Whiskymack]

I always thought that the NZ Superliner was on the standard R Frame like it's Australian cousin but I don't know for sure.

What always amazes me about Mack in the 1970's and 80's is how many different models they had for trucks doing pretty much the same thing.

There were the Eastern built standard R models, the Western built Hayward models which had a different frame, the Superliner not to mention the U model all offered at the same time and all intended essentially for over the road haulage. Then you had the Australian Superliners with the R model frame and I think a similar model was available in Mexico. I'm sure Kenworth and Peterbilt only had the W900 and 359 for regular haulage with various options at his time..

I'm also curious about the product identity choices made for the Western lineup in the late 1970's. The old FL and FS models were replaced with the Cruiseliner in 75 and this had an all new riveted cab. The Superliner came out using the same frame as the Cruiseliner but still with the R model cab which had more in common with the F model cabs than the Cruiseliner. Why did Mack not choose to update the cab with similar styling to the Cruiseliner, duplication of doors etc? Also why did the frontal treatment differ. I'd have thought the stylists would have wanted some tie in between the two models with maybe the same grill/headlight treatment. I'm sure this must have been considered and I'd love to see development pictures if anyone has them. When Hayward closed and manufacture of these models went East the Cruiseliner grill was finally updated to look like the Superliner grill.

Why also did Mack choose to keep the old RS/RL 600 models going under the new name of Valueliner? Why did they not offer a short hood Superliner or at least replace the RS hood with a shortened Superliner hood? They could have had 3 Models with common styling rather than the 3 disparate models they offered. From a brand image point of view I would have thought this would have made more sense.

 

[james j neiweem]

Whiskey Mack: You make some interesting points. Mack was all over the place with so many models. Mack should have used standardization more to cut costs. I think they tried to use up parts and pieces until they ran out. Look at the C model with L cab and B model fenders as the U and R models were about to come out. I think Mack should have kept the Western R model design and dropped the Eastern design. As far as the Superliner origin goes Jakes chrome shop on you tube has a video on 10 things you didn't know about the Superliner. They seem to buy the line that it was a Brockway concept. Brockway closed down in 1977 and the Superliner came out in 1977. Seems to me that it was more of a Mack origin than Brockway. IMHO☺️

[Brocky]

I have been told that this Superliner design was the one big thing Mack kept as they closed Brockway. The Brockway operation closed in the winter of 76-77 with the final Iranian units assembled by management in Miami the late spring / early summer of 1977. I believe that the design / engineering departments of both companies started working closer together in about 74-75 with the introduction of the Brockway 700 series using the basic Sheller Globe Mack R model cab which had a different cowl for the Brockway butterfly hoods??? Maybe even earlier when Brockway started using the Mack F model cab for their cabovers?? Mack of Australia also used the Brockway designed "Huskiteer" 500 series cab after Brockway closed..I always stand to be corrected..😨

[Whiskymack]

The Brockway superliner conspiracy will run and run but I don't think there's much in it. Take a close look at a Superliner 1 and it looks pure Hayward Mack, while the missing link picture looks pure Brockway to me. The only real similarity is the cab. My guess is that both Mack Western and Brockway were independently developing their own wide hood, big radiator conventional just like more or less every other truck manufacturer in the 70's. Mack killed off the Brockway design when they closed down Brockway but continued to develop their own model. I don't doubt that Mack may have got some good ideas from Brockway but I would say that the Superliner is essentially their own. I'm sure that shutting down Brockway when it was on the brink of launching a flagship new model would understandably have lead to some bad feeling and accusations of industrial espionage. 

 

[james j neiweem]

Yes IMO Hayward was a good design team for Mack. More of their styling ideas should have spread east to Macungie. As KS says the west coast problem was they just couldn't

get the west coast workers (California) to build a quality product. Pete found this out later on and moved to Texas. I agree with Whiskey it was probably a Hayward design. It had to be in development at Hayward for sometime as it came out to closely to Brockways demise.

[CaptainCrutch]

The Brockway Superliner looks more like early 2000s Macks than late 70s models, to me atleast. There's really no similarities between the two Superliners other than the name and cab. This conspiracy is pretty nonsensical because the two are very different. But that's just my two sense.

[james j neiweem]

Two cents beats no cents