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Now that’s a fancy tractor!

Not too long ago we showed you this photograph of a lovely couple from Down Under on their tractor with sidecar. We didn’t know much about it, but reader Stephen Hands did. He learned us that it showed Aussie farmer Reginald ‘Woollo’ Woolsthorpe and his wife Mabel, setting off for the 1927 Quamatook Field Days and going for a trophy at the ‘tractor with sidecars’ race around the arena along the showgrounds, including a Le Mans start.

The comment by mister Hands was so full of detail that it even mentioned things as ‘Unable to make the sharpish turn, our intrepid pair ploughed through the Shire Mayor’s fence, jamming the throttle open with a piece of barbed wire and ripping out the magneto earthing wire, leaving Woollo and Mabel at the mercy of their errant machine, until the farmer’s dam finally halted their progress.’ We absolutely loved it, to thank you once again!

Over to today’s image. Again it’s one of which we know hardly a thing other than that it is believed to have been taken in the US. This time it doesn't show a tractor being converted into a sidecar racer, but a mighty motor being converted into a tractor. The base vehicle is said to be a Buick, but could possibly be a Packard? We’d love to be educated here.

Words by Jeroen Booij. Picture source unknown.

 

Published:
Sunday April 19th, 2020
Geoff Warner
29 April 2020, 12:15
My late Uncle, Walter Warner often spoke of an old Buick which had been converted into a tractor at Pittams farm Lillingstone Lovell, in north Bucks. They got it stuck in the mud one day and had to pull it out with a pair of plough Horses, much to his amusement. He preferred to work with the horses .
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Mike Coe
28 April 2020, 14:21
Wow, what here global knowledge abounds.
I as a boy vaguely recall seeing tractors as this in Wales. Vague, vague though! Whew.
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Torben K
26 April 2020, 11:39
Meili also converted other cars - i.e. whatever was available - such as Cadillacs with a Meili patented rear-axle construction - see a video of a beautiful restored Cadillac example here incl. a Swiss-German interview with the owner here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHLoDR7PMmE
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Jeroen Booij
22 April 2020, 09:19
Thank you all once again for the follow ups, we would be nowhere without you guys!
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Mike Clark
20 April 2020, 23:11
A relative of mine converted cars to tractors in the late 1940's. I recall a Flatnose Morris Cowley 1928 and a Humber 16/50, both of which I drove at the age of 9. He fitted a second 4 speed gearbox behind the original to give extra low gears and created knobbly rear tyres by cutting notches in a larger tyre which was fitted over the normal tyre which was then inflated inside the knobbly outer. He lived on a very hilly farm and the tractors would climb anything.
Mike
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Larry A. Lewis
20 April 2020, 18:14
There was a kit available to convert Model A Fords to tractors- There was one in common use in my parent's town int he 1970s.
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John Elema
20 April 2020, 14:52
Henry's model T could be easily converted to a farm implement as well.
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Kieran White
19 April 2020, 17:41
Converting cars to tractors was common during the 2nd World War in Ireland. Compulsory tillage was introduced and as private cars could not be used many garages converted these cars. The O’Haras of Jenkinstown, Kilkenny did a lot of converting including makes such as Renault, Velie Oakland, Dodge and Buick.
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Ace Zenek
19 April 2020, 15:29
The car appears to be a 1928 Buick Master Six. The car has the 1928 radiator grille with the dip in the middle, and the 1928 cowl lights. In 1929 the grille lacked the dip, and the cowl lights were moved towards the front of the cowl. The deep fender well for the spare tire was brand new for 1928. Previously the well was very shallow with most of the spare tire visible on the running board and fender. The use of disc wheels on a Buick is unusual except for those converted to ambulances, funeral hearses, etc. The radiator mascot appears to be the standard Buick "goddess" used in 1928.

One change made by Buick in 1928 was their adaptation of the standard shift pattern. Previously Buick's transmissions had the following shift pattern.

3rd 1st
Reverse 2nd

Interestingly, Buick actually offered a conversion kit for their customers who liked the old pattern or didn't want to adapt to the SAE standard that Buick was now following.

While it's fairly easy to identify this car, Buick appeared to have copied Packard's grille too much when it introduced the firm's new models for 1924. Rumors soon started that there would be a lawsuit against Buick for infringing on Packard's design. Instead Packard countered with the slogan, "When prettier cars are built, Packard will build them." This was a knock-off of the Buick slogan, "When better cars are built, Buick will build them." When Buick's 1925 cars debuted, the grille shape was changed enough that the controversy ended.
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Josef Kubišta
19 April 2020, 11:46
... the headlamps, cowl lamp and disc wheels do not look like standard compoments used on NA (US & Canada) products. I guess this may well be the GM product assembled in Europe, possibly Germany.
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Josef Kubišta
19 April 2020, 11:39
This is indeed 1928 Master Six Buick!
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Dale Conlon
19 April 2020, 08:37
Definitely a Buick Master 6 of 1927/28
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Gerd Klioba
19 April 2020, 00:24
The picture wasn't taken in the US, but in Switzerland, because it shows a 1928 Buick converted by Meili into an Auto-Traktor. The picture can be found on the homepage of the Meili AG.
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