In this List of Perkins engines, family type refers to the two letter designation Perkins Engines gives each engine. This nomenclature was introduced in 1978 under Perkins' new engine numbering scheme, where the family type is encoded in each unique serial number. Engines that went out of production prior to 1978 may have been retroactively assigned a family type to expedite parts support (this is the case with the Perkins 4.107). Some engines never entered production, such as the Perkins 4.224, but were assigned a family type. In the early years, Perkins gave names to their engines, beginning with the smallest Wolf. The larger Lynx and Leopard followed (all four-cylinders), with the 1937 P6 was intended to be called the "Panther." After a lawsuit from motorcycle manufacturer Phelon & Moore, Perkins dropped the Panther (and Python and Puma for the corresponding P3 and P4 models) and stuck to abbreviations from then on. Perkins was sold by Massey Ferguson's parent Varity Corporation in 1998, and is now a fully owned subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc.
See also Perkins Engines - Company article Frank Perkins - Founder of the Company Massey Ferguson - Former parent company of Perkins engines
References
Perkins Diesel Conversions & Factory fitted units, by Allan T. Condie, 2nd edition 2000, ISBN 0-907742-79-3
External links
Perkins Engines Company Perkins in Czech Republic History of Perkins Engines Perkins.com Webcitation.org