Porsche is renowned for high-performance two-seater coupes, roadsters, SUVs and the Panamera luxury sedan. Its sports-car development began modestly in the village of Gmund, Austria, in 1948 where project number 356 came from the fertile mind of Ferdinand Porsche, his son Ferdinand (Ferry) and a small staff of brilliant engineers.
Porsche was father of the famous Volkswagen Beetle, Auto Union Grand Prix racers and others. After the Second World War, his son Ferry, also an engineer, led the development of the Porsche car using Beetle mechanicals as the base.
But Ferdinand Porsche鈥檚 creativity reached beyond economy sedans, fast sports cars and racers. He also had an interest in tractors, which was not completely foreign to the automotive world.
Henry Ford had been fascinated with the idea of an affordable tractor that he envisioned doing for agriculture what his ubiquitous Model T car did for mass transportation. The result was the popular Fordson tractor, the role of which was later filled by the versatile N-Series Ford tractors.
And some tractor-makers had an interest in cars. Italian Ferruccio Lamborghini, builder of exotic sports cars, started as a tractor builder in 1949. The J.I. Case Co., of Racine, Wisconsin, produced cars from 1910 to 1927. And Willard Velie, grandson of mould-board plough inventor John Deere, built well-regarded Velie cars from 1909 to 1928 in Moline, Illinois.
Implement manufacturer International Harvester made light cars in the early part of the 20th century, and in 1961 returned to passenger vehicles with the Scout sport utility vehicle, followed by the Travelall station wagon.
Ferdinand Porsche鈥檚 interest in tractors probably stemmed from his First World War design of a hybrid electro-mechanical 鈥渨agon train鈥� in which the wagons were powered by hub-mounted electric motors. These motors received power from a gasoline engine-driven generator mounted on one of the wagons.
An advantage was that each wagon could be uncoupled and driven separately across a bridge that would not support the entire train. The Austrian army used it successfully.
In the 1930s, Porsche became interested in a 鈥減eople鈥檚 tractor鈥� inspired by the Volkswagen people鈥檚-car idea, the same thinking that had inspired Henry Ford. A Porsche prototype tractor was completed by 1938, but work largely stopped during the Second World War.
Activity resumed after the war, and by 1949, the tractor had been completely redesigned and was ready for production by an Austrian company called Allgaier under licence from Porsche. They produced the Porsche tractor in 17- to 44-horsepower versions until 1957, when it was assumed by a company called Mannesmann. Under Mannesmann, the Porsche tractor evolved into four models based on engine size, using the overhead-valve modular design diesel engine as a base.
The heart of this concept was a piston, cylinder, cylinder head, valve mechanism and connecting-rod unit. It was engineered as a standalone component, and more powerful tractors could be produced by simply mounting more of these units, or 鈥渂uilding blocks,鈥� on a longer crankcase and crankshaft assembly.
The Allgaier models came as the one-cylinder 14-horsepower Junior model, two-cylinder 25-horsepower Standard, three-cylinder 35-horsepower Super and four-cylinder 50-horsepower Master. The diesel engine鈥檚 characteristicly strong low-speed torque was a very useful farm-tractor quality.
The engines were air-cooled, thus eliminating a radiator, and the finned cylinders and heads were cooled by a gear-driven blower that eliminated the risk of broken drive belts. The ability to independently remove each cylinder from the crankcase greatly facilitated maintenance, and the modular design resulted in 87 per cent of the parts being common to all models.
Power went through a single- or double-plate friction clutch, and all models except the Junior also had a fluid coupling that reduced shock loadings on the drivetrain. There was both a hand throttle and a foot accelerator. All models had hydraulic hitches and power take-offs, and the track could be adjusted to seven different widths. Rear wheels could be individually braked.
Allgaier built approximately 25,000 Porsche tractors until 1957. Then Mannesmann took over and produced them until 1964, when the company was bought by automobile manufacturer Renault, which ceased tractor production. Allgaier-built tractors are identified by their orange colour, while those from Mannesmann are red with cream-coloured wheels.
Porsche tractors were different in appearance from others because they did not require a radiator grille, so the smooth nose followed the same theme as the Volkswagen and Porsche cars.
Porsche tractors established a reputation for good quality, sturdiness and reliability, but as they were priced above competitors, they were never high sellers. They were exported to the United Kingdom and sa国际传媒. Ferdinand Porsche, like Henry Ford, gained his greatest fame from cars, but he also made a significant contribution to agricultural life.
