1958 Porsche-Diesel 308 'Super' N Tractor

Powered by an air-cooled, four-stroke, 2466cc, three-cylinder diesel Recently-completed, total restoration included a full engine rebuild Painted to a Porsche car-grade finish and detailed to a show standard' This is a wonderful piece of Porsche history, and extremely desirable. Following spells at the Austro-Daimler, Mercedes-Benz, and Steyr companies, all of which benefited greatly from his monumental engineering prowess, Dr Ferdinand Porsche set up his own design consultancy in Stuttgart on 25th April 1931. Dr Ing. F Porsche's most celebrated product of the 1930s was, of course, Hitler's 'People's Car - the Volkswagen - but the company was also active in other fields, literally so in the case of its tractor project. Several prototypes were constructed prior to WW2, the earliest of which were powered by petrol engines, before Dr Porsche turned to diesel power, eventually developing a series of one, two, three and four-cylinder air-cooled engines ranging in output from 14 to 55bhp. As with all things from Dr Porsche's fertile imagination, the tractors owed little to convention and much to creativity, imagination and efficiency. An unusual feature of Porsche's drive system was its hydraulic coupling between the engine and the gearbox, which permitted smooth, clutch-less gear changes, reducing wear on the transmission components with the bonus of being simple to use and maintain by unsophisticated farmers. After the end of the war, Porsche was barred from producing its own tractors and only companies that had been making tractors prior to and during the war were permitted to carry on, forcing Porsche to license its designs to other manufacturers. Agreements were concluded with two companies, Allgaier GmbH in Germany and Hofherr Schrantz in Austria, and then in 1954 Mannesmann AG diversified into tractor manufacture by acquiring the rights to Porsche's engine and Allgaier's tractor design, setting up Porsche-Diesel Motorenbau GmbH. Here then we have the sports car of tractors! Porsche launched the Super N 308 as a sophisticated vehicle for medium-sized to large farms in 1957. Replacing the P133, the optimised engine delivered significantly more power with the same displacement and fuel consumption. Of course, it retained the typical Porsche look: red paint and a sleek, inclined engine hood. Offered here is a fully restored 1958 Porsche 308 Super, powered by an air-cooled, four-stroke, 2466cc, three-cylinder diesel, and now superbly finished in Red and Cream. The extremely thorough, recently-completed, restoration included a full engine rebuild with new pistons/rings, con-rod bearings, injectors and pump. The fuel tank was stripped, lined and sealed, whilst the front and rear axles, all drive and drawbar brackets and the steering column (with new fittings and bushes) were also fully stripped down, refurbished and rebuilt. The bell crank was repaired and many new parts were fitted - including the hydraulic pump, stub axles, track rod end seals, dash casing (with wiring harness, switches, instruments and lighting), seat & cushion, tyres and exhaust. It has also been painted to a Porsche car-grade finish and detailed to what our vendor describes as 'show standard' This is a wonderful piece of Porsche history, and extremely desirable.