When Peterbilt debuted its refreshed Model 579 last year it marked a fairly significant revamp – at least for Paccar, which has historically favored small refinements over full-blown reinvention.
The 579, indeed, is an enigma unto itself, a slick aerodynamic departure from its boxy, long-nose, flush-with-chrome family lineage.
When the Model 579 burst onto the scene a decade ago, it was a signal that Peterbilt – one of the on-highway OGs – understood that fleets' appetites for trucks were changing. "Chrome don't get you home," driver amenities and fuel efficiency were the new names of the game, and the 579 took Pete's seat at the aero table.
[Related: Test drive: Kenworth's sleek updated T680]
Since its debut in 2012, the Model 579 – now Peterbilt's on-highway flagship – has received a few of the aforementioned refinements, like the addition of the hyper-aerodynamic EPIQ package in 2014 and long-awaited integrated sleeper, UltraLoft, four years later. Beyond those, design or technology upgrades were incremental and subtle.
In a lot of ways, the new Model 579 is an all-new truck. The lone exception being that it's been around since the Obama administration.
I took Pete's retooled Model 579 on a nearly 200 mile jaunt around North-Central Texas. The black and chrome EPIQ was as much old school throwback as it was a demonstration of modern technology and freight efficiency.
