Panzer Copar

History

The story of the Copar Panzer tractor goes back to a hot summer day in 1953, when James A. Clark was trying to put in the lawn around his new home in College Park, MD. Clark had rented a walk-behind tractor with attachments but was making little progress and having to work way too hard. Clark happened to be chief engineer at the Ahrendt Instrument Co. in College Park, a firm that developed and built precision electronic and electro-mechanical navigation and gun control devices. By the end of 1953, a prototype had been hand-built. Ahrendt employees held a contest to name the tractor and “Panzer” was the winning entry. The machine was exhibited at the Garden Supply Trade Show in New York in early 1954. Apparently the Panzer got a lot of attention at the garden show, and Ahrendt made the decision to start building garden tractors.

The Copar company was formed to build tractors, constructing them in College Park (CoPar), MD. Copar was sold to Virginia Metalcrafters in 1960, and production was moved soon after. Panzer became part of Jackson Manufacturing in 1970, and was closed as part of a bankruptcy in 1971. Dandy Sales purchased remaining parts and patterns.

Sources: Panzer Tractor Owners club, Farm Collector

For more old, vintage, classic mower brand history, check out this page.

Years Manufactured

1954 – 1971

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