Victa

Victa is an Australian manufacturer of outdoor garden equipment, including petrol, electric, and battery-powered lawn mowers, edgers, trimmers, and chainsaws.

[citation needed] The Victa rotary lawn mower was developed in August 1952 by Richardson, in his backyard at Concord, New South Wales.

It was called the "Peach-Tin Prototype", so named because it was made out of scrap metal with a peach tin used as a fuel tank.

[5] In the early 1960s, the firm diversified into other industries: it manufactured the "red phone" (a private payphone system, for use in business premises), aircraft, and, for a short while, Victa project homes.

[8] The Airtourer proved very popular, boosted by Victa's purchase plan whereby owners could pay off the cost in instalments.

[9] Although certification was obtained, the Aircruiser was never put into production by Victa, as they withdrew that arm of their operations in 1966-7 after the government would not grant them a financial advantage to protect the local industry over imported aeroplanes.

In 1958, the company had moved to a new factory at Milperra, New South Wales, and its 3,000 employees were building 143,000 mowers a year for export to 28 countries.

[citation needed] Outdoor garden equipment, including petrol, electric, and battery-powered lawn mowers, edgers, trimmers, and chainsaws are sold under the Victa brand.

[21] The Victa Lawnmower regarded by many as an Australian icon, and it was included in the opening ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.