60 years of tractor production at the New Holland plant in Basildon, Essex, has brought the total number of tractors made at the factory to two million units.
The tractor that carries this distinction is a 225hp T7.225, which New Holland claims is one of the more popular T7 models produced at the Basildon plant.
To celebrate the milestone, it has received a livery comprising ‘candy blue’ body panels, New Holland silver and black graphics featuring the Union Jack flag, and a ‘2,000,000 Basildon Tractors’ logo, plus a New Holland leaf bonnet top and black wheels rims with candy blue rim edges.
“This is a major milestone in the life of our Basildon plant, and a mark of both the dedication of our skilled employees here and the loyalty of our customers worldwide, to whom we are extremely grateful,” said New Holland brand president, Carlo Lambro.
He went on to note that from the tractors of 1964 to those of today, Ford, and then New Holland, have come a long way in capability, capacity and technology, allowing its customers to farm more efficiently.
“What is unchanged, though, is our commitment at Basildon and across the whole of our business to continue developing the technology our customers need to sustainably power their farms into the future,” the brand president added.
The two millionth tractor will make special appearances during forthcoming events in the UK, and will then be displayed in the Customer Centre at Basildon.
Basildon milestones
The Basildon factory was built to accommodate the production of the new Ford 6X tractor series which swept away the Fordson Majors and Dextas and put in their place a whole new range of modern tractors that provided a clean break, with what we might now consider vintage designs.
However, to prove a sense of continuity, the names were transferred across and affixed in a subordinate position to the main designation to indicate that, for instance, the Ford 4000 was the equivalent of the old Fordson Major.
Basildon was to make the engines, front axles and hydraulics for the tractors, while Antwerp would build the eight speed gearboxes, both factories would assemble the tractors along with Ford’s Michigan plant.
Revamp required
Unfortunately, the new range was not without its issues, so in 1968 came the launch of the ‘Ford Force’ 2/3/4/5000 tractors, which saw the long-serving names retired along with the ‘shark gills’ bonnet styling.
A year later, the 250,000th tractor was produced.
It took until 1984 before the 500,000th tractor was made, it was from the Q-cabbed Series 10 range launched three years previously, which ultimately spanned 44hp 2610 to 116hp 8210 models.
In 1989, Basildon produced its one millionth tractor. The year also marked 25 years of manufacturing at the plant, celebrated with the release of a number of special edition Silver Jubilee 7810 tractors.
The purchase of the Ford Tractor division by Fiat in 1991 meant that the 150,000,000 tractor was a New Holland 40 series, which rolled off the production line in 1995.
The latest celebration of the two millionth tractor emerging from the factory doors marks another landmark point for Basildon, and for New Holland, which has been making tractors at the factory for five years longer than Ford did.
