The Rarest oliver: xO-121

1 of the 3 experimental engines built is on display at the Floyd Co. Museum

The rarest of Oliver tractors is an experimental model built for engine research known as XO-121. Why is it the rarest Oliver? Well, that's because there was only 1 Oliver XO-121 ever built! As for the tractor model's name, the "X" was for experimental, "O" for Oliver, and "121"  for the 12:1 compression ratio of the gas engine used in the tractor.  In 1953, Oliver engineers at Charles City partnered with engineers from the Ethyl  Corporation to develop high compression gas engine that operated on high octane fuel.  The project started with an Oliver Row Crop 88 tractor with a modified front frame to fit the custom Hercules diesel engine block used as a base for the engine project.  Three of the 12:1 compression ratio engines were built and tested, but only 1 experimental XO-121 tractor was assembled.  The tractor used the side tins for the Super 88 model fitted with special badges instead of normal decals.  For the paint scheme, Oliver decided to stick with its normal meadow green and red, except they reversed the location of the colors.  The tractor body was painted red instead of green, the wheels green instead of red, and the traditional yellow grill was upgraded to a custom chrome grill. By May of 1954, the tractor was ready and went to get tested for the executives of Oliver and Ethyl at the GM Proving Grounds near Milford, Michigan.  The tractor was a great success, but was never meant for production.  The engine research and design principles tested were carried forward into not only Oliver's future engine design, but into gas engine design for nearly all farm tractors.  By 1960, the tractor had served its purpose for Oliver and was given to Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa to be used as a teaching tool for the ag engineering program. By the 1980's, the tractor had been donated to Living History Farms in Urbandale, Iowa and was being used to pull wagons around. The tractor had been repainted and almost lost it's identity as the rarest of Oliver tractors! Luckily, the tractor was rescued in 1987 and was donated to the Floyd County Museum in Charles City, Iowa. Since then, the tractor has received a full restoration and is on display at the museum daily and occasionally ventures out of the museum for exhibition at Oliver tractor shows.

Oliver and Ethyl produced a promotional video titled "Getting Ahead of Tomorrow" to share the results of the XO-121 experimental tractor. The video tells the entire story and has great footage of the research, design, assembly, and testing of Oliver's rarest tractor!

---