Remembering my 1st tractor; The Falstaff 8N

[Fawken]

1958. I remember it well. I talked my mom into giving me the 79 cents for the exquisitely painted, red and gray, wind-up tractor at M.E. Moses. It was just beautiful. It lasted all of two days. Sand in the transmission. Call it owner abuse, but with less than 2 hours on it I was not a happy Ford customer. M.E. Moses was not on the immediate itinerary so I decided to take the cowling off and tear into the transmission. Whoa! In spite of the fact this tractor was a Ford and on it's way to becoming an American classic, it was quite obvious that my machine was made in Japan! And in 1958, pure junk was what came from Japan. The paint on the outside was great, but on the backside of the sheet metal it said: "Falstaff Beer, America's Finest."

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

Thanks for the good story. Unfortunately, I'm old enough to remember those days when "Made in Japan" meant junk.

 

[Fawken]

Gosh, Poopdeck, I was beginning to think that no one remembered those days. Thanks for the reply. Even if your a gen-X-er, you have to remember Doc's famous line from Back to the Future, "Made in Japan. No wonder it failed."