Appreciation of the day to Gary, for sharing his photos of Mexican trucks! They don't show up anywhere that I've seen on the internet, and it's time to take a look at these!

Starting as early as 1951 Kenmex, Ramirez, Pena, and Dina were the longest lasting brands. All independents pretty much disappeared a few years after NAFTA came into effect. There have been some non-Mexican brands made in Mexico for Mexico only, like Volvo, International, Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford, Scania, White, Kenworth (Mex version called Kenmex) and even Belarus. (never sold a single Belarus after 2 years of trying)

And there were export trucks to the US made by Volvo, International, Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford, Kenworth, and some say a few Peterbilts.

The similarity of looks by many independent Mexican truck makers is due to the fact that smaller companies could easily make door frames and doors so they bought them mostly from Kenworth through dealers along the border or from Kenmex sometimes. Making a truck in Mexico, except Dina National, required a permit for every truck to be built issued by the government. Dina could not accommodate all the specific variations of chassis that independent operators needed so a small market existed for low volume brands. It was said the Ramirez R-15, R-22 and R-44 could be driven off a 200' cliff, rollover a 6 times (not at all uncommon), be hauled back up, put a new body on it and it was ready to go.

Thanks Gary!