The Jim Russell sale of amazing tractor models

Peter Love reports on the successful Jim Russell sale of amazing tractor models that was held by Cheffins a few months ago.

The Jim Russell sale was staged by Cheffins at its Sutton HQ on November 25th November. This amazing event ran between 9am and 6.45pm and included just under 700 lots.

Jim Russell was a fastidious and serious collector of mostly Ferguson and Massey Ferguson models, literature and memorabilia, but he also owned a beloved Ferguson Brown A type (No. 48). His family farmed on a large scale and, when he was just 13, his father took him to a Ferguson System demonstration. This was in September, 1947 and, not only did the event include an appearance by the Ferguson TE-20, but Harry Ferguson was there and asked Jim if he’d like to have a go.

After performing with the tractor on sloping land, he must have impressed the great man as, the following year, a new TE-A 20 arrived on the farm, complete with a plough and cultivator! During the summer of 1948, Jim and his father were invited to the Royal Show, taking place in York that year, to meet Harry again and report back on how they’d got on with the outfit. From that time onwards, Jim’s interest was very much focused on Ferguson and Massey Ferguson, and that’s how things remained for the rest of his life.

Jim’s collection was left to his grandson, who subsequently decided to place much of it for sale with Cheffins, which is how we arrived at this auction. There were bidders from all over the world, including the Republic of Ireland, Canada, USA, Switzerland, New Zealand, Australia, Norway, Denmark and more!

The sale started with Cheffins MD, Bill King, on the gravel, overseeing the sale of tinplate and diecast non-Ferguson and Massey Ferguson models. Next, the Ferguson models, memorabilia and Jim’s Ferguson-Brown A (No. 48) were handled by Oliver Godfrey. This section began with two 1:43-scale Kenna Models Standard Vanguard vans in Ferguson dealer livery, which sold for £160.

Then, a number of 1959 Ferguson P99 F1 four-wheel-drive model cars came up in various scales – mostly 1:32 – with the best example selling for £120. This racing car was the first and only 4WD machine to win a Formula One race, and it did so by competing in the Oulton Park Gold Cup in September 1961, being driven by Stirling Moss. This sale even included a programme from that notable event!

Some £1,000 was paid for the Ferguson Systamet plastic Ferguson TE-A 20 and two-furrow plough, then came a raft of G&M Originals in 1:16 scale. Highlights included the 1933 ‘Black Ferguson’ selling for £380, a Ferguson TE-F 20 diesel half-track that made £440, a 1956 FE 35 that went for £300 and a TE-D 20 that sold for £380.

Other notables included the Chad Valley Ferguson TE-20 in green that went for £500 but, in grey, the same model sold for an amazing £1,750! A couple of other big ones were the £2,000 spent on the Mico Models Australia Ferguson diecast, then a successful bid of £2,300 that secured the American Ferguson TO-30 by Topping, in plastic and diecast.

As for the late Mike Thorne Ferguson 60 LTX prototype models, three of them raised £340 while the fourth sold for £280. A 10in Lego/Airfix plastic Ferguson, with wooden disc rollers, made £950, while an Airfix 1:20-scale Ferguson TE-20 raised £980. Later, another of these in red (a promotional model for Harry Ferguson Ltd) sold for £1,800, while a plastic kit with black wheels could have been yours for £650.

Next came the major items: the 1:16 Classic Combines Ferguson three-row ridger, nine-tyne cultivator and two-furrow plough, making £420. The Bill Smith brass-made 2in scale Ferguson disc plough made £750, while his amazing dung spreader (41in long) sold for £800, which I considered a bargain.

The stunning, 2in scale Bill Smith Ferguson TE-20 mounted Ferguson combine sold for £5,500, while the possibly 1in scale Ferguson ‘Black Tractor’ made by Jim Russell (another amazing model) went for £12,000. Another built by Jim – but more detailed – was a 1937 Ferguson Brown A, fitted with matching plough and all made with brass and aluminium. It sold for £10,500.

A smaller but similar example, on non-pneumatic wheels, sold for £6,200 (another bargain), while the drawing and patterns for these models went to Graham Allen (who owns three Ferguson Brown As) for £300. The stunning and ‘mint’ Ferguson clockwork demonstration model, made by Mills Brothers in 1949/’50, sold for £10,000. However, a real shock was provided by the ‘mint’ Ferguson demonstration model four-page instruction leaflet, which sold for an incredible £8,300!

Next came the 1936 Ferguson Brown A (No. 48), which came to Jim via Ben Sergeant, the well-respected Peterborough farmer and MF historian. The tractor looked good and featured tyres from an early GDSF sale, plus many new castings (including rear wheels and radiator frame). The tractor had been kept in Jim’s museum room, and to remove it for the sale, the back wall of the building had to be removed. Jim had run the tractor on occasion with an exhaust pipe venting through the wall! This fine machine sold for £33,000, which was a fair price in my view.

The Ferguson Brown A instruction and parts book for No. 12 (the first to be sold, to chief engineer John Chambers) raised £2,400. A Ferguson Brown A catalogue, also from John Chambers, raised £1,400, while the 13th March 1922 Ferguson Duplex plough and letter catalogue sold for £600.

The last two big sellers among the literature lots were the official MFH 1954-56 minute book, which raised £2,900, and the three original Harry Ferguson Coventry minute books 1948-53, with Elizabeth Sheldon’s name on the spine (Harry’s daughter), which sold for £1,900.

Jeremy Curzon took over on the rostrum for the memorabilia section at what, sadly, was his final sale with Cheffins. The highlight had to be the Banner Lane works reception desk brass plate, that sold remarkably for £600.

The Massey Ferguson model section consisted of 180 lots, and by the end of it, Tom Godsmark had taken to the stand. On average, these lots made £120 each, but the highlights included the Mercury Massey Ferguson farm set that made £900, a 1:16 Classic Combines Massey Ferguson/Weeks 22 tipping trailer selling for £2,300, an MF 30 seed drill making £2,200 and a GM Farm Models 1:16 MF 35x that found a new home for £400.

All-in-all, it was quite a day that will live long in the memory, that’s for sure!

This feature comes from the latest issue of Classic Massey & Ferguson Enthusiast, and you can get a money-saving subscription to this magazine simply by clicking HERE