COLORS, LOGOS & NUMBERS
The evolution of Cat appearance
The appearance of Cat machines has evolved since the founding of the company in 1925.
The original paint color was battleship gray, and the logo was the wavy design in either black on white (printed material) or red on gray.
The first product line included the 2-Ton, 5-Ton, and 10-Ton from The Holt Manufacturing Company's former product line and the Thirty and Sixty from the C. L. Best Tractor Co.'s former product line. The 10-Ton and 5-Ton were discontinued in 1926. The 2-Ton was discontinued in 1928.
The first tractor that was designed and produced by the Caterpillar Tractor Co. that was not based on a previous Holt or Best model was its Model Twenty, which went into production in 1927.
In 1928, Caterpillar introduced its Model Ten. The Model Ten was designed to replace the 2-Ton.
Major changes began in 1931. The wavy logo was replaced with a more traditional design and the following year the color changed from red to black.
More significantly, the battleship gray color with red trim was discontinued in favour of Hiway Yellow with black trim. This color didn’t change until 1979 when Caterpillar Yellow was introduced. The newer shade is generally described as being more muted and visually appealing.
Also in 1931, Caterpillar introduced its first diesel powered tractors beginning with the Diesel Sixty. Production of the D series (D6, D7, D8) began in 1935 as diesel engines began to replace gasoline power.
As various new lines of equipment were developed over the years, an extensive array of model numbers were assigned to the new machines. Several changes to the company logo are displayed in the graphic above.
In honor of it’s 100th anniversary celebration, Caterpillar is offering a limited edition of machines painted with Centennial Gray.
Sources:
https://web.archive.org/web/20120427114602/http://www.acmoc.org/about-caterpillar?task=view&limit=1
https://1000logos.net/caterpillar-logo/
https://www.hatchwise.com/resources/the-complete-history-of-the-cat-logo
https://www.caterpillar.com/en/company/history/archive/the-evolving-look-of-cat-machines.html
