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Can tools be art? Opinions on that question certainly vary, but I believe so. Hot rod designer Chip Foose apparently agrees, seeing as he took this 1970 John Deere 4020 tractor and restyled it to look more like a vintage sprint car than an antique soil tiller.
Foose modified the workhorse around 2010, just after his TV show Overhaulin’ aired its final season. While he made his name penning designs like the Hemisfear, which went on to become the Plymouth Prowler, Foose partnered with Deere for something called the Big Buck Sales Event. The snazzy tractor toured the nation, stopping at one dealer after another before being given away. Now, more than 15 years later, it sits in the John Deere Archives facility in East Moline, Illinois.
Legend has it that Foose saw similarities between the 4020, one of John Deere’s greatest hits, and classic circle track cars. That’s why he accentuated the long hood, which swoops up just before the cockpit, and gave it fat side pipes. The rear-end also sports the same boat tail as sprint racers from yesteryear, complete with “4020” hand-lettered on the rear.
It was surprisingly divisive when Foose modified the tractor. Apparently the only fanbase more opinionated than Porsche purists is John Deere diehards, and they disagreed with practically everything Foose did to the beloved 4020. You can still see the disgust in archived forum threads from years ago:
I doubt their attitudes have changed much in the time since, but as Heritage PR Manager Chris Boyens points out in this video on the Tractor Zoom YouTube channel, it’s not like 4020s were rare. John Deere made lots of ’em between 1968 and 1972. Boyens also explains that everything is totally reversible, if they ever chose to undo it. But why would they?
Maybe those guys were frustrated when new tractors became nearly impossible for owners to work on, and as they went looking for older models, they thought the singular Chip Foose model would’ve been the right fit for their farm. In any case, the tractor lives in climate-controlled comfort while others are still out there, earning their keep. Perhaps that’s the real reason they’re upset. If it’s not helping someone make a living, it shouldn’t exist at all.
But if you ask me, tools can be art, too.
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