Case 442 demonstrator

Rodeo man

Member
I went to an organizational meeting tonight for our local antique tractor show. I'm in to antique tractors obviously, but I've never attended a show. I didn't know that garden tractors/mowers played such a big part in those circles. They actually look like fun. Anyway, there was a gentleman there must have recently acquired a very rare Case 442 demonstrator. I could tell from the excitement it generated, that it must be quit the find. I didn't want to look like the odd man out, but why is this garden tractor such a find? I've also gotta say, it gave me the itch to look at getting something smaller scale.
 
CASE introduced their Demonstrator program in 1971 to help the dealers boost sales. There was nothing special about a Demo model. Dealers could order any lawn or garden tractor in Demonstrator trim and pay a much
reduced price for it. However, they were expected to take that unit to potential customers homes and allow it to be used at that property in the hopes that the customer would buy a Case machine. Obviously, only a certain
humber of Demo's were produced each year because only dealers could buy them. The dealers were free to sell that Demo a year later for whatever he could get for it and then order a new one. Over the years, many Demo
tractors have been lost to the scrap yard or otherwise and therefore the remaining examples are slowly dwindling. The Black Knight Demo's were from 1971, 1972 and 1973. The Golden Demo's are from 1975 and 1976, which
also marked the end of the Demo program. Neither Case or Ingersoll produced a Demo after the 1976 model year.

I see Demo's show up on Craigslist, E-bay and private sales now and then. The trick is in distinguishing a genuine Demo from the many fakes that have been made over the years. Even if you do run across an original, you
have to be careful to not pay stupid money for it because there are shyster's out there who will take you to the cleaner's.
 
The 442 Demo is super rare, as there are less than 10 of these KNOWN to exist (actually closer to 5) so the 442 demo is definitely a great find. Tom is correct, if you ever end up finding one make certain it
is not a fake, ORIGINAL paint and sheetmetal are a MUST! What area are you in?? I am wondering if this is the one that I just heard about surfacing.
 

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