When you hear the name Porsche, images of sleek sports cars invariably come to mind.
But for a brief period of time in the 1950s and 1960s, Porsche also produced tractors.
These tractors are now extremely rare collectors items and, in mid-February, the only Porsche tractor believed to exist in Australia changed hands.
The 1960, two-cylinder tractor was one of 360 lots offered by Tony Forrest in a clearing sale at Ripplebrook in Victoria's Gippsland region.
Mr Forrest is an importer, exporter and restorer of vintage farm machinery through his business, St Leger Machinery.
The tractor sold to an interstate collector for $15,450 to total $17,000 once GST was included.
There was no reserve price on the item however the amount paid far exceeded expectations.
Auctioneer Martin Evans conducted the sale online and it attracted interest from local, interstate and international buyers.
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Speaking on behalf of Mr Forrest and Mr Evans, John O'Keefe from O'Keefe Communications said with a bit of tender loving care the tractor could probably be made workable once more.
Mr O'Keefe said Mr Forrest bought consignments of machinery from all over the world and in some cases restored the equipment before reselling it.
"Folklore goes that this particular two-cylinder version ended up in the UK," Mr O'Keefe said.
"The person that had bought the tractor, not knowing what to do with it said, 'look we are sending you a container of other tractors, we'll throw this one in as well'.
"Mr Forrest didn't go over there with the specific intent of buying a Porsche tractor."
Mr O'Keefe said Mr Forrest's clearing sale was "full of people who are collectors of items".
He said there was a growing group of people, known as pickers, that buy vintage machinery to "do them up and sell them on".
Alternatively, there were people who got a buzz out of buying these kind of machines to "keep on their property for show and tell".
Mr Forrest is expected to offer more of his collection later this year.
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