In the July 2007 issue of Farm Collector, the article titled “Fantasy Ford” raises the question why Robert Smith’s Ford tractor was once painted yellow.
I firmly believe the appropriate answer is that they were painted yellow because of the order placement and the fact that the order came from an airline company. Probably as the color was not specified on the order and the Ford Co. did not want to delay the order, the tractor was painted yellow, which is the color of U.S. Air Force and Navy aircraft tugs (safety related) and especially as the exact usage of the tractor was unknown.
What is not stated in the article is the base color of the other known C318. The other C318 is stated to also have an Eastern hour meter on it. The hour meters were either ordered or not, or the hour meters were replaced for standardization purposes.
The article notes that “… he found two coats of blue paint, then one of white, then, under that, yellow.” The white coat was used to prevent bleed-through of the yellow coat and to provide a base for the Eastern logo.
I also note in the photo of Robert’s Ford 2000 a tubular attachment with four-hole flanges. This was probably the mount for the autoscrubber, hence the American Lincoln Autoscrubber serial number tag.
G.W. McKeel
Glenwood Springs, Colo.
