Huge Massey Ferguson tractor collection to be sold at auction

Train enthusiast Jim Russell gathered the collection over 50 years

A collection of Massey Ferguson tractor memorabilia, thought by auctioneers to be the largest in the world, is set to go under the hammer.

More than 800 items including models, toys and paraphernalia will be up for sale on 25 November.

The collection was gathered over 50 years by tractor enthusiast Jim Russell from Warwickshire.

It will be sold by auctioneers Cheffins at the sale ground in Sutton, near Ely in Cambridgeshire.

A catalogue annotated by Ferguson inventor Harry Ferguson will be up for sale along with a 1936 Ferguson Brown Type-A tractor.

Massey Ferguson tractor models will be sold as part of the collection

Tom Godsmark, associate at Cheffins, said the sale would be very special.

"This is certainly the largest private collection of Ferguson models, tinplate toys and memorabilia to ever have come to auction and is most likely to be the largest in existence in the world," he said.

Owner Mr Russell dedicated a room in his house to display the tractor models and had an extension and air filtration system built so he could run a Ferguson tractor engine indoors.

Massey Ferguson became the largest manufacturer of tractors in the western world by the 1970s, according to the Museum of English Rural Life.

The company continues to sell products in more than 140 countries, it added.

A dedicated room for the tractor models has been built at Jim Russell's house