New exhibition celebrates the tractor’s historical links with Coventry

Massey Ferguson is supporting Culture Coventry’s major new exhibition at the Coventry Transport Museum celebrating the tractor ‘from factory to field’.

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Inspired by the 70th anniversary of the start of production of the Ferguson TE20 tractor at the Massey Ferguson Banner Lane factory in Coventry, this interactive, family-friendly exhibition and summer-long series of events runs from 26 March-19 September.

There will be an exciting line-up of tractors and farm equipment on display from rare vintage models to present-day machines including the MF 5610 which conquered the South Pole in 2014. Among the raft of events running alongside the exhibition is ‘70 Tractors for 70 Years’, a spectacular parade of Massey Ferguson tractors through the city to Millennium Place outside the Coventry Transport Museum (30 July). The full programme schedule takes in three school holidays and there is plenty for all ages to enjoy.

“We are thrilled to be part of this exciting exhibition which salutes the vital contribution tractors have made to farm mechanisation and the advancement of agricultural production all over the world,” says Campbell Scott, Massey Ferguson Director Marketing Services Europe/Africa/Middle East. “Massey Ferguson’s strong links with Coventry continue today. We are extremely proud of the legacy of the Banner Lane factory and the pioneering work of our co-founder Harry Ferguson which initially brought us to Coventry in 1946. More than 3.3 million MF tractors were built at the plant. These machines are part of the fabric of the city’s automotive engineering heritage and helped define its global reputation as a centre of industrial excellence.”

Together with Massey Ferguson, the Friends of Ferguson Heritage Club (FoFH) is also a principal supporter of the exhibition. Included in the MF machinery on display, some of which has been loaned by FoFH members, are a 1938 Ferguson Brown,1948 Ferguson Ford, 1952 Ferguson TE20, a very rare 1964 prototype MF 65 Hi Hi, (a high-clearance machine developed for use in sugar cane), a 1982 MF 265 and a 1955 MF 735 combine. Representing the modern-day are a 75hp MF 4707 tractor, MF 1840 baler and the Antarctica2 Expedition MF 5610 which set a world record by becoming the first wheeled tractor to reach the South Pole overland.