96 Year Old Steam Tractor Uncovered In Suffolk Garden.

View Nippy Here.

At routine house call to a country cottage you may expect to find many things; a Victorian watercolour, a tea set or perhaps a grandfather clock. What you don’t expect to come across however is a 96 year old steam tractor, languishing under a tarpaulin in the back garden! Just such a discovery was made by Colchester auctioneers Reeman Dansie during a recent visit to a sleepy Suffolk village.

‘It was a really unexpected find’, comments auctioneer Lewis Rabett, who spotted the engine poking out of the properties overgrown garden. ‘It is certainly the first time I have discovered anything quite like it!’ he added.

Following the discovery the Reeman Dansie team set out to find more about the history of the forgotten engine. They discovered the steam tractor in question christened ‘Nippy’ was manufactured by British firm Aveling & Porter in 1926. Painted in the livery of haulage contractors Dagnall Ltd of Chesham Bois in Buckinghamshire it is likely the engine spent its early life hauling goods around the country.  By the 1920’s internal combustion power began to replace steam power and slowly engines such as Nippy were replaced by the trucks and lorries in the haulage world that we are familiar with today. In later years the engine was owned by a father and son, before disappearing from the steam scene around 15 years ago.

Following Reeman Dansie’s discovery the engine has been collected from the garden it has spent over a decade in ready for it to be sold at auction, where its lucky new owners will be able to restore Nippy back to steaming condition.