Antique Tractors & Gas Engines • DVD • 96 mins.

The 50th anniversary of the Early Day Gas Engine & Tractor Association was celebrated at the Historic Santa Margarita ranch in California. It drew hundreds of hit and miss gas engines, vintage IC tractors and steam traction engines from all over the west coast of America.

This DVD shows the entire parade, where the current British curse of ‘health and safety’ is happily missing, and looks closely at many of the items being exhibited, some of which are described by their proud owners.

There is also a detailed examination of the only full-size replica of the giant Holt No. 111, reputedly the first track-laying crawler built, and certainly a jaw-dropping machine.

For those used to the British rally scene, the stationary engines, mainly dating from before World War 1, are of types rarely seen in the UK. Some of the tractors may be familiar, but there are a large number of huge machines showing the transition from steam to IC power which are not. And even if the Holt replica is the star of the traction engines, there are many other types and makes on show, all decidedly different from British designs.

See a different world, and explore it time after time after time!