[AT] Perkins was Of the 10 worst tractors, two were made by Fiat. 4 were from brands eventually acquired by Fiat.

[James Peck]

This says Caterpillar purchased Perkins in 1998. That is later than I remember but?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perkins_Engines

Cecil pointed out that Cat owns Perkins. I think that purchase dates back to the late eighties when Varity Corporation was being disassembled. 

I once had a coworker who started his career at Perkins. The man had grown up in the Merseyside area and completed a Mechanical Engineering program at the University of Manchester. He had also seen the Beatles live in Liverpool. After getting qualified working at Perkins he was after more money. He learned German and got a job on the European continent.

His job was working in Luxembourg for the European subsidiary of a US company. After some years he got a transfer to the US. 

JCB has started building some of their own engines rather than always using Perkins.

[ James Peck] Legacy Quarterly had an  article in which the engine selection for a Detroit designed model, perhaps the MF 1805, was discussed. The Caterpillar engine was selected. Perkins did present an engine option. Maybe Detroit Diesel and Cummins as well. The evaluation rationale did not include engine longevity, that I can remember. Maybe I can dig up the issue. People who worked in the MF Detroit Engineering groups are going to be few and far between to get first hand information from by now.

The US tractor industry has generally avoided lemons.  Maybe the article should have included the Kubota\Daedong model with unavailable head gaskets and a tendency to blow them.

For the record, I own a little Caterpillar and Agco stock.