Dr. Ferdinand Porsche sure had some hits in his career including, of course, the Volkswagen Beetle, and one that you may not know about: he created the first gas/electric hybrid vehicle and it was shown at the Paris Exhibition in 1900! He was given direction to work on the people’s tractor in 1937 by the German government as he was also working on the people’s car. Over 125,000 Porsche diesel tractors were produced between the mid-1950s and 1963 when tractor production halted. Only around 1,000 of these tractors were sold for the North America market.
The tractors weren’t actually built by Porsche in the era after WWII as only German tractor companies who were producing tractors before and during WWII were allowed to continue. But, the Porsche tractor was such a unique design that two companies, Allgaier GmbH and the Austrian company Hofherr Schrantz, used the Porsche design. In 1956, a company called Mannesmann AG bought the rights to produce these tractors with the name of Porsche-Diesel Motorenbau GmbH and they continued until 1963 when the division was sold to Renault. This 1960 tractor was built under that confusing umbrella of companies. So, even though it’s a “Porsche” in name and spirit, and in most of the design, it’s not a Porsche-Porsche, per say. But, these tractors are hot, hot, hot right now with fully-restored examples going for easily $20,000.
This is a three-cylinder (my favorite number of pistons), 2,466 cc, four-stroke, air-cooled diesel. Porsche tractors came in four models: the Junior with 14 hp, Standard with 25 hp, Super with 38 hp, and Master with 50 hp. This tractor needs work, but if you can get it for around the opening bid price you should be able to restore it within a reasonable budget and still not lose your shirt. They are really nice to see when they’re red and shiny. Are you a tractor collector or a Porsche fan?