The Mack Cruiseliner, known in the factory as the WR Cruise-Liner, was Mack’s cab-over-engine tractor of the 1970s. The cab sat above the engine to keep the truck short, and its frame was strong enough that Mack reused it for the Super-Liner conventional when that model entered production in 1977.
Mack Cruiseliner at a glance
| Maker | Mack Trucks |
|---|---|
| Type | cab-over-engine (COE) tractor |
| Factory designation | WR Cruise-Liner |
| Layout | cab above the engine, short bumper-to-back-of-cab length |
| Frame | used for the Super-Liner RW700 from 1977 |
| Assembled | Allentown, Pennsylvania, until 1975; Macungie after 1975 |
| Powertrain | Mack diesel engines and Maxitorque transmissions |
There is no dedicated Wikipedia article on the Mack Cruiseliner; this page is based on the Super-Liner, R series and company articles.
History of the Mack Cruiseliner
American length laws pushed Mack, like every other truck maker, into cab-over-engine designs in the 1960s and 1970s: with the cab sitting above the engine and the front axle, a longer trailer could be hauled within the same overall length. The Cruiseliner was Mack’s answer in that class, a heavy COE tractor with the driver sitting high over the front wheels.
Its place in Mack’s history is fixed by what came after it. The Super-Liner, developed from a Brockway project and put into production by Mack at the end of 1977, shared the cab of the R series but was built on the frame of the WR Cruise-Liner COE. The same frame later passed to the second-generation Super-Liner II in 1985, which used the full-length frame rails of the MH Ultra-Liner cab-over. The Cruiseliner records in this collection include the MC designation listed with the line.
Design and features
- Cab-over layout: the cab sits above the engine, shortening the truck within length limits.
- Heavy tractor: built for long-distance hauling with Mack drivelines.
- Frame donor: its chassis carried the Super-Liner of 1977.
- Shared with the MH: the COE family continued with the MH Ultra-Liner.
Mack Cruiseliner versions
- WR Cruise-Liner: the factory designation of the cab-over tractor.
- MC: the model designation listed with the Cruiseliner records here.
- MH Ultra-Liner: the cab-over that followed, described on its own page.
The Cruiseliner’s frame carried the Mack Super-Liner, and its successor in the cab-over line was the Mack MH Ultra-Liner. The conventional trucks of the same years are the R series. More trucks are in the Mack collection.
Sources
- Mack Super-Liner, English Wikipedia: the WR Cruise-Liner frame, MH frame rails
- Mack Trucks, English Wikipedia: company history and assembly plants
- Mack R series, English Wikipedia: the F, WR and MH cab-overs as related lines
