Fordson N colour change in 1939

[LouiseC]

I am hoping that someone will be able to help me. I work at the Yorkshire Museum of Farming in Murton, York and I am re-doing some of our labels for our tractors. I have been told by a number of people that the Fordson N changed its colour from orange to green in 1939 to make them less visible to enemy bombers. However, I can find very little confirmation of this fact. Does anyone know if this is true?

Thank you in advance for your help,

Louise

[Spanners]

The model N changed from Harvest Gold (a sort of Yellow/ tan colour) to green in late 1940 according to Alan T. Condie's book Model 'N' 1929 - 45.
Stuart Gibbard's book the Ford Tractor story vol 1 on page 63 refers to the colour changing in 1940 to make them less conspicuous as they stood on the jetty or in the yard awaiting dispatch at the Dagenham factory where they were built.
The Orange colour is a popular misconception and has led to many tractors being repainted in a rather strong orange colour. I own a 1938 Fordson that has been repainted green during it's preserved life and am currently trying to sort out a paint match to part of it that is still in it's original harvest gold colour.
I hope that this is of some use.

[LouiseC]

Thank you, that is really helpful.