Britain’s Stopgap Tractor: Fordson E27N

By Josephine Roberts
Updated on January 17, 2025
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courtesy of Ross Bartlett
A 1948 E27N in lovely original condition belonging to collector Ross Bartlett. This tractor features a period lighting set.

Henry Ford’s first successful tractor was what we now know as the Fordson Model F, and while there was nothing particularly revolutionary about these tractors, they were popular in both the U.S. and Britain. The success of these little tractors, in Britain at least, was partialy due to the fact that they were affordable. This was made possible because they were mass-produced.

Despite the success of the Fordson tractor, Henry Ford moved away from the tractor market in the U.S., but production of Fordson tractors continued in Britain. The Fordson name continued to grow and thrive, and other models followed, all of which went on to become firm favourites with British farmers. Today, Fordson tractors are much-loved collectibles, and the various different models spanning many decades are seen in shows and ploughing competitions throughout the U.K.

In Britain, the Fordson Model N replaced the Fordson F in 1929. The Model N sold in huge numbers, and for many farmers (my grandfather included), it was the tractor that replaced the working horses on the farm. Many people “of a certain age” remember the Model N as the first tractor they ever drove. The Model N was also the most popular tractor during the WWII period, and it is often thought of as the tractor that kept Britian fed during very hard times. The hard-working model N had a long production run, and a replacement model wasn’t produced until 1945 when Fordson introduced its E27N tractor. At the time, the E27N was known as the Fordson Major, but when, in 1951, Fordson brought out its “New Major” model, it became easier to refer to the previous “Major” as the E27N to avoid confusion.

The Fordson E27N tractor was produced at a time when Britain was facing crippling austerity as a result of the Second World War. Wartime shortages not only ruled our everyday domestic lives, but they also ruled our industry, making it very difficult to manufacture anything, because materials were directed at the war effort, and were therefore in short supply. During WWII, Ford’s British workforce focused on essential wartime work, building and assembling Rolls Royce Merlin aeroplane engines under license for the Royal Air Force, so any plans that the company had for producing a brand new tractor had to be put on the back burner until nearer the end of the war.

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