what's the Chip Foose Big Buck?

There's a JD add for a contest to win a 4020 designed by Chip Foose supposed to be worth 40 000 US,anyone ever see it?What makes this 4020 worth 40 000,or is it really worth that much?The picture is so dark,you can't see what it really looks like.

There has been a link to the interview with Fooose on hte Red Power page. Seems like a dumb idea, that will ruin a gool little tractor.

The story with some pic is on the John Deere website. My personal opinion? As if anyone cared, is that it demonstrates just how completely out of touch John Deere corporate management is with farmers. When I saw that on the JD website, my first question was: "Who's Chip (Skip?) Foose? Then I read about his designs. A 1936 Ford that looks like a rocket ship, lots of cars that look like rockets. OK. Attention getting device I guess. He's supposed to come up wth his own redesign of the 4020 he was presented with. We're all supposed to be on pins an needles, waiting in eager anticipation as to what this thing is going to look like. God only knows how much this is costing in the middle of a big farm depression. Enough to make me want to drive right on by the John Deere place without even looking. But, I'll allow them a mistake or two, they still turn out some pretty good equipment.

ALL SHOWand NO GO !....No way that poor tractor will ever be a sensible workable Power that farmers will Love and Cherish as a dependable partner in the Field ,If that 4020 had a Heart and Soul it would be in Tears .., All standard breed farmers won't walk 10 steps out of their way to see such a morph ,, and will walk away in disgust and disbelief if they stumbled across it at the fair ,, Deere took a LEFT turn for the worse, pizn $$$$$$ in the LEFT direction at a time when AMERICAS Farmers Need suppport to keep the farm in the family ....

Here's my two cents . It's advertising PR ! It's art . It's Hot rodding . How many folks cried when hot rodders hacked up a classic car to customize it the way they wanted it ?How about all the tractors thats are worked over for pulling ? The tractor will never see a day of field work . It will be a one off work of art . If it was the last 4020 on earth I might feel a little differant . I 'm sure there are more than a few more of them around .

Bryan - I agree completely. It's all about PR. It's not really any different than when Caterpillar bought a theme bike from Orange County Choppers. The PR departments have money to spend and are trying to attract new customers.

Any 'serious' farmer, like the ones on this site, are not going to be swayed. But it will sway the suburbanite weekend warrior, the kind who already owns 2 SUV's that will never leave pavement. This guy owns some property and wants something more masculine than his riding lawn mower. He's looking to buy a 30-50hp compact TLB, and he wants it to be green because 'green' is cool. Chip Foose said so.

I don't think Deere is completely out of touch, they just aren't in touch with this crowd.

I don't see what all the fuss is about.

Chip Foose is an AMAZING car customizer.

I agree that it doesn't enhance the idea that JD is "in-touch" with the common farmer, but I'm sure his customization will turn out MUCH better than some home-grown "pulling tractor" hack jobs I've seen.



Howard

Chip Foose is a very talented designer of hot rods and custom cars. His dad was a hot rod and custom pioneer also. While I don't agree with all the stuff he does to cars and trucks on his TV show, he is talented.
Tractors are made to work in the dirt....period. They don't belong on paved road tractor rides or in hermetically sealed restoration displays.
Also, people on this site need to accept that there are many second and third generation farmers who have hot rods, muscle cars and other high dollar toys in their machine sheds.....even having additional buildings to hold them. I personally know one who has had Chip Foose build him several cars totalling over a million dollars. There is not an "ag crisis" for everyone.

I would have to question JDs ultimate motive for doing this. Maybe they want to come out with a next generation of style on a tractor that they are not sure the public is ready for. This would be one way to test the reaction from the public. Or maybe they want Chip Foose to give them the inspiration for a new style.

The new little Ford tractor that looks like a stylish modern version of an 8N sure caught a lot of attention. As did the PT Cruiser the Chevy whatever it was and IHs Lonestar semi truck. All modern machines with a retro look.

Lets not forget the reaction of many farmers back in the late 30s and early 40s when tractor companies were hiring automobile people to stylize their new tractor lines. Sleek hoods, rounded fenders, covered radiators and steering gears, etc. Many farmers thought it was all a waste of function and just plain silly to put fancy tin and chrome accents on a tractor of all things. It did nothing to make the tractor run better and was thought to only run up the cost of the tractor when farmers were still healing up from the depression and some were still trying to afford their first tractor.
WW2 took care of the chrome accents but the styled tin stayed and was accepted quickly. Now we expect a good looking tractor, function be darned.

Maybe thats what JD is doing. The most popular tractor was the 4020 and why not sell the public a new 4020 with retro styling. How would they build a modern 4020 with retro styling? Do it in reverse. Take an old 4020 and put new styling on it and see what happens.

Or I'm totally full of it and JDs just spending money on goofy stuff just to show they aren't very sensitive to the needs of the farmer while their prices for iron go up 10% every year.

Maybe Foose and the Deere execs have never seen a Super Farm Stock tractor pull,cause that's exactly what it's likely to come out looking like.

now thats Straight from CASE ... Huuummmm n

Honestly, it's just an attention getter. It's for fun, it's not like they're going to role his design into production.

I find it really funny so many folks are so worked up about this.

Chip does nice work. It's not all for me but that's OK. I highly doubt this 4020 will ever see dirt again anyway.

K