Schuco - 1/43 K.L. Lanz Bulldog Tractor
Before Kelly and Lewis embarked on their Bulldog tractor project in August 1947, there had been several earlier attempts to manufacture tractors in Australia to a range of local and overseas designs. The Melbourne firm A.H. McDonald and Co., had pioneered Australian tractor manufacture with their "Imperial" EA model in 1908, but like most of the initiatives that followed over the next three decades, the project meet with only limited success and only a small number of the early McDonald tractors were made. The McDonald TW and TWB 'Super-Diesel' tractors were produced between 1930 and 1944 with production reaching one tractor per working day between 1936 and 1940. However demand exceeded supply as McDonald's could not produce tractors at a faster rate. Both during and immediately after World War II, Australia faced an acute shortage of tractors, severely hampering agricultural production. Both Federal and State Governments were keen to stimulate local tractor manufacture, which had almost ceased during World War II, due to shortages of materials, labour and equipment. Chamberlain Industries received assistance from the Western Australian government to produce their larger tractors in Perth in the 1950s. Although a range of initiatives were proposed, the KL Bulldog was the first new Australian tractor to go into production after the war. The project had the financial and technical backing of Kelly and Lewis, then one of Australia's largest engineering firms, with half a century of experience manufacturing a diverse range of products from centrifugal pumps to air compressors, steam and internal combustion engines, power station condensers and structural steelwork, including machinery for the Spotswood Sewerage Pumping Station. Engine castings were made in Hobart.
Features:
- Period: Historic
- Material: Zinc Diecast
- Model brand: K.L.
- Model Type: Tractor
- Scale: 1:43
- Mounted on plastic base with acrylic cover
- Limited edition worldwide