Comeback in Tractors

It was a great day for Inventor Harry Ferguson. Less than 15 months after Henry Ford II had stopped producing Ferguson tractors, Irish-born Harry Ferguson stepped into his first tractor to drive it out of his new Detroit plant. He had something to crow about.

Built in a record-breaking 116 days, the plant is airy and bright, and boasts many a trick to cut production costs. Example: tractors are lifted from one steel platform to another—so workers can walk around the tractor and do several assembly jobs—instead of being pulled along a continuous assembly line. Ferguson expects to turn out 100 tractors a day within two months, 500 when his production line hits its stride. List price: $1,470, more than $200 higher than Ford tractors.