The Massey Ferguson tractor was developed in the 1950s by the Massey-Harris-Ferguson company, which was formed as a result of the merger of several smaller companies during the 1940s. The original prototype of the Massey Ferguson tractor was created in 1953 with the help of Harry Ferguson. Harry Ferguson had previously developed the Ferguson–Brown agricultural tractor in 1936, which then served as the blueprint for the Massey Ferguson tractor. Some of the other companies involved in the creation of the Massey Ferguson tractor were Massey-Harris, Ferguson-Sherman, and the Minneapolis-Moline Power Implement Company. The company continued to improve their designs over the next decade, leading to the release of the Massey Ferguson 65 in 1958. This model of the Massey Ferguson tractor was the revolutionary one that later became a farming staple, boasting a powerful diesel engine and other features that drastically improved upon the slower, heavier models of the past.