1930
During the Great Depression, consumers desperately needed reliable, cost-efficient products. Knowing that diesel engines were more powerful than gas engines (while consuming about half the fuel), Caterpillar developed “Old Betsy,” a prototype that would become our first diesel engine, the D9900. Within a few years, Caterpillar was one of the world’s largest producers of diesel engines.
Old Betsy’s design was so far ahead of the curve that 40 years after its 1933 retirement, it passed 1973 emissions tests.
