By David S. Wallens
Aug 26, 2013
|
Porsche
| Posted in
Product Reviews
| From the Sept. 2011 issue
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How strange is it that two of the world’s most famous supercar builders got their start with tractors? The Art of the Automobile: A Lifestyle Event featured a pair of tillers from two famed brands, and Brian Johnson owns both of them.
The blue-and-white one is a Lamborghini 3C. “After the water, Ferruccio Lamborghini started a business converting leftover U.S. military vehicles into usable farm tractors,” Brian explains. “In the 1950s, he started building his own tractors, and the company is still in business today.” The 3C is powered by a three-cylinder diesel engine that makes around 35 horsepower.
The red one is a 1960 Porsche Junior. “After the war, with the food shortage in Europe, the German government came to Porsche and asked that they start tractor production,” Brian explains. “Porsche took what was left—the cafeteria and office building—in a dirigible factory on Lake Constance on the Swiss border and converted it over to tractor production.” Porsche tractor production ran until 1964, and Brian says that they made around 155,000 units.
The Porsche has full road equipment as required by German law. It has another benefit, too, Brian adds: “My wife prefers the Porsche, as it has the side seat on the left fender for her.”
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