HISTORIC MILITARY vehicles remain ever popular on a world-wide basis with the ubiquitous Jeep being by far the most widely owned, the most popular and the most affordable. However, there are occasions when an ultra-rare vehicle will more than grab the attention of the military vehicle fraternity when it comes up for sale – even if it is outside the price range for most collectors. Such was the case with a Holt 75 tractor which was recently sold by auctioneers, Chaffins.
The sale in October provided an incredibly rare opportunity to acquire another of these highly desirable and hugely important machines – there being just four examples known to exist in the UK. An imposing and fascinating piece of equipment, the tractor has tremendous historic significance. An iconic machine, feted on both sides of the Atlantic, the 75 was a product of the Holt Manufacturing Company, the forerunner of the Caterpillar Tractor Company, and was built at both its Stockton (California) and Peoria (Illinois) plants. The model was in production from 1914-24 and 4,161 were made, including a total of 1,810 military tractors, supplied from Peoria to the British, French, Russian and US armies during the First World War. Some 1,…
