With sales typically ranging between 5,000 and 7,000 new trucks each year, the classic-look segment of the big-rig market isn’t the largest piece of the pie, but it is profitable and prestigious.

    International Truck and Engine Corp. traditionally has had about 20 percent of that premium niche, and stands a good chance of increasing its slice with the help of a new product, the LoneStar, which was developed in Fort Wayne.

    Several public officials attending a March 18 photo opportunity for the LoneStar remarked on its classic styling. And Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry said he was impressed with its creature comforts.

    “The sleeping compartment in LoneStar is actually nicer than my first apartment,” he joked. “Those college days were rough.”

    Aside from the new truck’s initial appearance at the February Chicago Auto Show, the Fort Wayne preview was the only public viewing of the LoneStar prior to the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Ky., March 27-29.

    Mid-America is the industry’s biggest trade show, and when the LoneStar is put on display there, “we want to make an impression,” said Mike Roeth, director of global advanced engineering at International’s parent company, Navistar International Corp.

    Coverage of the event will provide continued exposure for the LoneStar in trade publications, industry blogs and mainstream media, The company plans to begin taking orders for it April 1.

    The LoneStar already has received some favorable reviews, and there was enough buzz about it to attract motorhead paparazzi. Spy shots popped up on Autoblog about a month before the Chicago Auto Show.

    It wasn’t Navistar’s preferred means of unveiling the product, but “I guess it was a little flattering,” Roeth said.

    “It was the first time I can recall having some (International product) spy shots plastered all over the Web.”

    Navistar executives believe the truck will fill a new niche of customers interested in comfort and style as much as fuel-efficiency improvement.

    Fleet owners will appreciate the fact that Navistar has improved the fuel economy of the new truck up to 15 percent, and “owner-operators love classic-looking trucks,” said Mark Wohlford, International Truck program manager for the LoneStar.

    Navistar says the improved fuel economy can save owners $3,000 to $8,000 annually.

    Rising fuel prices and other cost increases have driven a lot of owner-operators back to working for fleets. Providing them with good-looking trucks is a way to keep them from driving for competitors, Wohlford  said.

    With annual driver turnover averaging 160 percent, anything that can keep employees longer will help reduce training costs, he said.

    Executives say the LoneStar’s striking, aerodynamic appearance and breakthrough functional innovations resulted from extensive customer research and automotive-inspired design.

    They say it represents a new category of Class 8 trucks called “Advanced Classic,” in which technology and innovative styling converge with next-generation aerodynamic design to deliver superior fuel efficiency.

    LoneStar also sets a higher standard for comfort, they say, through improved ergonomics, an industry-leading suspension, advanced electronics and a quiet cab.

    Wohlford estimated the LoneStar’s price tag will be $115,000. The company will begin producing it in large numbers this summer in Chatham, Ontario, and International is promising to start delivering LoneStars in October.

    The LoneStar is an important northeast Indiana engineering feat, and the company is celebrating it with Fort Wayne-area residents through the donation of 15 copies of its new book “Milestones” to the Allen County Public Library and its branches.

    International employs about 1,000 at its Truck Development and Technology Center and Truck Reliability Center in Fort Wayne. About 40 of them have been focused on LoneStar development, and several more contributed to the project, Wohlford said.

    The truck progressed directly from computer and clay models to production — without any development prototypes.

    When the truck was unveiled at the Chicago Auto Show last month, competitors had to be curious about a product they had not expected to see until next year. Its ProStar predecessor — which gave Navistar its first new truck platform in years — was a 48-month, $300-million program.

    That is a pretty standard time frame for the development of a new truck. But the new development process at the center took a year off the time required for the project and cut the cost in half.

    Roeth said International projects it will have spent $70 million developing LoneStar by the time it starts delivering the trucks.

    Wohlford expects the LoneStar to do well at Mid-America. With all of its chrome and vintage styling, potential customers there will get “the emotional part of it,” he said. And with the truck’s aerodynamics improving its fuel economy, “the business part is making sense to them,” Wohlford said.

    “We think that’s going to translate into a lot of sales.”