A new appreciation for a vintage brand, and a tractor driven by the king of rock and roll

The Newark Vintage Tractor & Heritage Show’s club stands are the backbone of the event, bringing together like-minded enthusiasts with a shared passion for a brand.  

The diversity of machines brought from across the various membership organisations creates a fascinating showcase for visitors, while also bringing together friends to share memories of a particular model. 

This weekend’s event at Newark Showground is shaping up to be no different, with a new group exhibiting for the first time, and tractor on the Friends of Ferguson Heritage Club stand which has a great link to Elvis Presley. 

The Minneapolis-Moline Group will exhibit a selection of vintage tractors for the first time at this year’s event, on 7-8 November, shedding light on a previously understated machinery brand.

The group was formed only three years ago by Darren Creasey, his family, and friend Owen Gillman. They want to raise the profile of the Minneapolis-Moline (M-M) brand, which was founded in 1929 before going defunct in 1974.

“We see a lot of Fergusons and David Browns exhibited at shows, but a lot of people who have M-M machines tend to leave them at the back of the shed,” says Darren. “The idea was to see if we could get the brand re-initiated and see if we could get people to bring them out and show them off.”

While this is the group’s first time at Newark, earlier this year they exhibited as the Carrington Show, where they broke the record for the most M-M tractors and equipment exhibited together in Europe, with 51 exhibits on show.

“In the three years since we formed, we’ve really grown, even becoming worldwide,” says Darren. “We’ve gone from a small Facebook group to having over 600 members, including members from the United States, Australia, and New Zealand.”

Publicity and awareness are the primary goals of exhibiting as it hopes to get even more people involved for future shows and rallies. 

“We’ll have six M-M tractors on our stand at the show, including a 110 Garden Tractor, and a fully restored 112 Garden Tractor which is absolutely immaculate,” says Darren.

Also on the stand will be a UDM and a UDS tractor, which were the two M-M machines produced for the UK market, plus Darren be exhibiting his Minneapolis-Moline V, which is the only V tractor in the UK after he imported it from California in 2016 and had it fully restored.

Bringing Elvis to the show

An extremely rare and restored Ferguson TO-30 with a rear mounted Michigan loader will be on show.

Believed to be one of only two with Michigan loaders that exists, this make of machine was made famous after being driven by Elvis Presley in the film Jailhouse Rock.

Jack Popplewell’s grandfather, the late John Popplewell, was a well-known collector and trader of Ferguson and Massey Ferguson equipment. He found a TO-30 from a coalyard in Harrogate and restored the machine in the late 1990s. Jack has named the tractor Elvis as an homage to its famous operator.

“While it’s very exciting to have such a rare piece of machinery, I haven’t been able to confirm whether this tractor is the exact one that Elvis drove in the film, or the other one that was made,” says Jack. 

“It was in pretty good working condition when we found it. We even used it for moving soil while the yard and our house underwent construction.”

Elvis is being sponsored by Friends of Ferguson Heritage, while a gold FE-35 will also take pride of place on the Ferguson Club stand. 

A longstanding supporter of the Newark Vintage Tractor & Heritage Show, the Ferguson Club is looking to engage with the next generation of vintage tractor owners and enthusiasts this year.

“At this year’s show, we are hoping to see more young exhibitors getting involved,” says John Jeffries, chairman of the Ferguson Club. “Young people are the future of vintage tractor clubs, so it would be great to see young enthusiasts coming to see the great collection of machines that we’ll have on show, including Elvis.”

Other machines that will be exhibited by the Ferguson Club include a Ferguson/Brown Type A, a Ferguson TEA-20 with passenger seat, a TEL-20, and an FE-35.

Tickets for the weekend are still available online: https://newarkvintagetractorshow.ticketsrv.co.uk/tickets/Admission