> Up until a year ago I was regularly using a Massy Fergusson 135
There is a tradition in several European countries named Affouage: If you live in a rural area, you can get very cheap (or even free) wood at the condition that you go to cut it yourself in the close-by forest.
Many many people who are doing this practice are still using today Massy Fergusson 135, Renault R98/461, Ford 3000-4000 series, SOMECA or similar low tech tractors.
The reason are simple: They are cheap to operate, cheap to repair (damages happen easily forest environment) and their small size is perfect for the task.
The demand for these things will never die. Rugged environment requires cheap and robust hardware.
If this startup can capitalize on that, they do have a market.
I would like this in a new car company. Low tech, simple to operate, repair, etc. the tech is what goes out of style and I don’t know how (or don’t care) to use half of tech cars have to offer aside from the automatic safety stuff.
In most US states, if you're willing to build it yourself, you have a lot more leeway. It was part of the formula that allowed Local Motors to exist (sadly they aren't around now).
YMMV of course, but worth checking into if you have the mechanical and welding skills.
People put whatever engines they can find on old truck chassis. It’s up to you to do the swap. Most people do want to DIY anything on a car. Enthusiast based models usually don’t sell in high volume.
The hard part is convincing enough capitalists to invest into a high volume low margin product/company that doesn't have a real chance of being a jackpot win down the road. Investors don't want stocks that at its best gain a percentage or two above the overall market, there are plenty of other options with similar returns that have better worst-case results if there is a market crash. A co-op business could theoretically do it and would be happy with such margins, except it is unlikely a co-op is going to have enough capital to start with enough scale to actually push into the automotive market.
Sir Edmund Hillary and his team drove early Massey-Fergussons to the South Pole in 1958 (much to the annoyance of Sir Vivian Fuchs who Hillary beat to the pole even though Hillary was supposed to be a support player only :). The tractors weren't really suited to the job but they were tough enough to make it anyway.
>"But the stock of old repairable tractor will soon or later run dry."
Then some other country will come up with the alternative. It is insane that piece of very old and simple tech has such a price tag. There are whole bunch of countries that have cheap enough metal to come up with the alternative
The first motorized thing I've ever driven was a Massey Ferguson 37 I think. I still hope to have my own some day !
At the moment my little brother and my father, who are living in a rural area, have started a collection of vintage tractors by buying everything they can and fixing it up, help that my dad's a mechanic. I'm frankly jealous.
There is a tradition in several European countries named Affouage: If you live in a rural area, you can get very cheap (or even free) wood at the condition that you go to cut it yourself in the close-by forest.
Many many people who are doing this practice are still using today Massy Fergusson 135, Renault R98/461, Ford 3000-4000 series, SOMECA or similar low tech tractors.
The reason are simple: They are cheap to operate, cheap to repair (damages happen easily forest environment) and their small size is perfect for the task.
The demand for these things will never die. Rugged environment requires cheap and robust hardware.
If this startup can capitalize on that, they do have a market.