A much-talked-about auction took place on Saturday (May 12) in England, in which tractor enthusiast Paul Cable put his 38-strong tractor collection up for sale.
Among the lots up for grabs was this 7810 Generation III ‘Silver Jubilee’ (pictured).
This 1989 example is shod on 18.4 R38 rear and 16.9 R24 front wheels/tyres. It was restored some years ago; 9,493 hours are showing on the clock. It sold for a very significant £35,500 plus VAT.
A buyer’s commission of 5% must also be added to this (hammer) price.
Image source: Tim Scrivener
The 7810 Generation III ‘Silver Jubilee’ is sometimes described as the ‘holy grail’ for Ford collectors.
These iconic ‘special-edition’ tractors were launched in October 1989 to commemorate 25 years of tractor production at Basildon (England).
Accounting for 25% of the company’s retail sales (in the UK) at the time, the Ford 7810 was the obvious candidate for a special edition version.
Based on the Generation lll tractor, the ‘Silver Jubilee‘ version was equipped with the famous Super-Q cab (with an electronic instrument panel), 4WD (using an Italian Carraro front axle) and the ‘Synchroshift’ gearbox (with Dual Power).
The most striking feature was the special metallic silver and blue livery.
One ‘Silver Jubilee‘ tractor was allocated to each UK Ford dealer. The plan was to offer it as a high-specification machine with air-conditioning, an electronic performance monitor and four spool valves.
However, some dealers complained that the long list of added extras would make the tractor too expensive for their customers, so each dealership was sent an order form that allowed them to tailor the specification to their own requirements.
This saw some ‘Silver Jubilee‘ tractors go out with just two spool valves and no air-conditioning.
How many were built?
Around 150 of these limited-edition models were built, but the silver paint and the expensive price tag led to some resistance from customers. Several had their specification downgraded or were repainted in the normal blue livery – to move unsold stocks.
Image source: Tim Scrivener
