The Mack RS series was the long-hood “western” branch of the R family, developed for the American West where long trailers and long distances favoured a bigger, squarer bonnet. Its best-known member, the RS700, was replaced by the Super-Liner in 1977 — and still appeared in the 1978 film Convoy.
Mack RS series at a glance
| Maker | Mack Trucks |
|---|---|
| Family | Mack R series (1966–2005) |
| Role | long-hood “western” conventional |
| Best-known model | RS700 |
| Replaced by | Super-Liner RW700, put into production at the end of 1977 |
| Film appearance | Convoy (1978), driven by Kris Kristofferson’s character |
| Marketing | Mack used the Super-Liner in publicity for the film |
| Assembled | Allentown, Pennsylvania; Hayward, California until 1980 |
The RS is described in the history sections of the English Wikipedia articles on the Mack R series and the Mack Super-Liner; there is no dedicated RS article.
History of the Mack RS series
American trucking is split between the eastern conventionals and the “western” trucks, the long-hood, square-nosed machines that owner-operators in the western states preferred. Mack answered that market with the RS, a long-hood version of the R series. The RS700 became the best known of the line, a heavy tractor with the room for the biggest engines in the range.
The RS700’s life ended in an unusual way. Brockway, a Mack subsidiary that competed with its parent in heavy trucks, had begun work on a truck called the Super-Liner on the R series cab, with a squared-off hood to take a larger radiator and engine. Mack closed Brockway in 1977 after labour disputes and finished the project itself, putting a set-forward-axle Super-Liner into production at the end of 1977 as the RW700 and using it to replace the RS700.
The timing left Mack with a publicity problem. The 1978 film Convoy, in which Kris Kristofferson plays a driver called Rubber Duck, featured an RS700 — but the film came out after the model had been replaced. Mack solved it the obvious way and used the Super-Liner in all the promotional material connected with the film, so that the truck most people remember from Convoy is the model that succeeded the RS700 rather than the one that appeared in it.
Design and features
- Long hood: the western look, with room for the largest engines of the range.
- Star of Convoy: an RS700 carried Kris Kristofferson’s character in the 1978 film.
- Super-Liner predecessor: replaced by the RW700 at the end of 1977.
- Aluminium-friendly: the lightweight RL, introduced in 1967, was made for the same western market.
Mack RS series versions
- RS700: the long-hood western tractor, replaced in 1977.
- RS600 and RS712: the other designations recorded in this collection.
- Super-Liner RW700 (from 1977): the model that replaced the RS700.
The RS belongs to the Mack R series and was replaced by the Mack Super-Liner; its construction siblings are the Mack RD series and the Mack DM series. More trucks are in the Mack collection.
Sources
- Mack Super-Liner, English Wikipedia: the RS700, its replacement, the Convoy film
- Mack R series, English Wikipedia: the R family, the RL western model, plants
