Jacgues Littlefield's Military Museum

[ccheese]

Matt: Just noticed this today. I am not into armor, regardless of whose it
is. But I am impressed by this man's collection. Gota be a lot of time, effort
and money [much more of the latter] than one can amagine. You know what
they say about a man's toys......

Thanks for taking the time to go there and get the pic's. and for sharing.

Charles

 

[Njaco]

No prob, Thor. I thought the chassis wa a little smallish and more squared off than the IV. Quick post I did, anyway. I think the two missing hatch covers make it a III.

 

[Thorlifter]

I did some image searching and I think your right, Njaco. Good eye!!!

 

[wilbur1]

Wow is all i can say! does make you wonder though if any run

 

[Matt308]

Forbes Magazine

December 24, 2001

Arms and the Man

Dogged pursuit of his obsession has made Jacques Littlefield the Patton of collecting.

By Victoria Murphy


Jacques Littlefield's workshop is a field hospital for military vehicles. Here a bare chassis on a stand, there a set of tracks being repaired or a piece of armor plate in need of patching. His passion is tank restoration. History does not excite this man. You won't find him poring over accounts of the Maginot Line or the Yom Kippur war. What turns him on is technical perfection--the hunt, say, for a two-gallon oil can made for nearly every U.S. World War II-era tank. The oil cans were usually discarded and hence are rare. "I bet in some old warehouse there're probably 20 of them just sitting there," he muses.

Littlefield bought his first tank for $20,000 in 1982--an M5A1 Stuart, rushed into production in 1942 as America rearmed. He has since amassed a fleet big enough to go one-on-one with Ireland or Botswana, 55 tanks in all. A rival collector with a mere seven tanks says admiringly, "He has tons of really rare things that no one else would bother with."

There's the Conqueror, a clunky, 74-ton British tank built in the mid-1950s. When fired it shook so powerfully that the sights of its 120mm gun easily got misaligned. Gunners never had much luck hitting anything with that monster. He has a Sturmgeschutz, a German self-propelled 75mm gun mounted on a tank chassis that zoomed out in advance of infantry with direct explosive and antitank fire. Its gun fired forward only.

Today these souvenirs of military might sit locked away in six warehouses totalling 70,000 square feet on 470 acres of rolling hills in the heart of Silicon Valley. Littlefield bought the property in the 1970s and could probably get a tidy sum for it now, but he's not about to give up his tanks. Inside the 5,000 square feet of garage and work space, a 15-ton overhead crane takes out turrets and removes engines. Nine full-time mechanics restore four tanks at a time, typically, over a two-year stretch.

While another collector might get his kicks thrashing his Sherman through the mud or parading it down Main Street on Veterans' Day, Littlefield rarely takes his out for fear that they may "leave a mark on the street" or "annoy the neighbors." Besides, he could wreck the precious hardware. So fastidious is he that he asks guests to remove their shoes before stepping into these former killing machines.

Every detail of a restored Littlefield tank must be perfect--the color of paint on each handle, extra ammo stowed in the back corner of the turret, the props for the canvas cover that was likely never used in battle. He often uses his board seat at the Fort Knox Cavalry Armor Foundation to get access to the Army Museum's fleet. Last month he spent seven hours crouched inside the turret of an M26 Pershing. He's fixing up a Pershing of his own, and he needed every measurement. Three years from now, it's a safe bet Littlefield's specimen will be more authentic than the Army's.

His biggest current project--restoring the Sturmgeschutz--has cost him, so far, $200,000 (double the purchase price). It has required fabrication of 250 parts, not including the original manufacturer's logo-marked nuts and bolts. "I can't think of anything that's inaccurate on this tank," he says. The gunner's periscope on his M60 tank, used during the Cold War, is in such good condition that designers from United Defense, a military contractor with an office in nearby San Jose, have dropped by to take notes. "That's the mother's milk of this hobby for me," says Littlefield, 52. "I have this knowledge that no one else has."

Littlefield set out to emulate his father. Edmund Littlefield, who died recently, amassed a $1.7 billion fortune by running the family construction and mining company, Utah International, and merging it with General Electric. Following those footprints wasn't to be. After getting an M.B.A. at Stanford and spending five years as a product manager at Hewlett-Packard, Jacques realized he wasn't cut out for budget meetings. "My father used to ask me to picture myself at age 65. He'd say, 'Is the Earth a better place since you've been here, or are you just kind of a drag on the program?'" Jacques considers his collection "a significant contribution," even if it isn't "inventing a new vaccine [or] starting the Guggenheim."

"It's an eccentric hobby," Littlefield goes on. "It labels you as different. And 'different' doesn't work for a lot of people." Especially when it comes to shelling out the dough. The tanks themselves aren't that expensive--$35,000 each, on average, plus another $6,000 to get one into the U.S. Restoring just eight tanks and repairs on another ten have run to $2 million. Total tab so far: $5 million.

Littlefield can deduct some of this money as a contribution to the educational foundation he set up to maintain the collection. After his demise he plans to leave enough to cover operating costs so the tanks can stay together. His kids will decide whether to keep all that hardware on the ranch or relocate it.

The hunt for tanks takes adventurous collectors to such far-flung spots as the Australian outback, where American and British tanks were shipped after World War II for use as farm equipment. Littlefield works through dealers who keep in contact with foreign governments and military museums. "He is the best customer I could have," says Robert Fleming, a British dealer who has sold Littlefield ten tanks. In 1995 Fleming spent two weeks armed with a revolver, a 9mm semiautomatic and $10,000 in cash (for "commissions") to score his client a few U.S. Army M18 Hellcats in Bosnia. He got word from the Ministry of Defense in Sarajevo that NATO was offering 15 of them in a village near the eastern town of Srebrenica. Fleming bought over 13 tanks and had them trucked over Serb, Bosnian and Croat territory down to the Croatian port of Ploce, where they were shipped to Liverpool, England.

Each country has its own rules about the degree to which a tank must be deactivated before it can gain entry. To get the Hellcat into Britain, which has relatively permissive laws, and then into the U.S., workers had to torch a hole roughly the diameter of the muzzle into the barrel's side and cut off the rear end of the gun. The tank was sprayed with disinfectant to prevent the spread of animal diseases in this country.

A hiccup in this process can cause big delays. Two years ago Fleming brokered a deal to get Littlefield a Scud B missile on a truck bed. He insisted it wasn't live, but U.S. Customs disagreed, and confiscated it.

Littlefield shrugs off such setbacks. At the top of his Christmas list: a German Tiger I tank from WWII. Legend has it that in battle it took four U.S. Shermans to destroy a Tiger--and three of them might end up as victims. Only 1,300 were made, and most of those that survived battle were melted for scrap. "People call me saying some guy somewhere has come across a Tiger," Littlefield says. He knows the odds, and compares them to finding a Rembrandt in a barn in Iowa. Says he: "Show me the metal."

 

[Matt308]

And here is a list of what he has in the 46,000sq foot showroom.

Your gonna love this...

Light Tanks

Name Type Main Weapon Origin Year
M3A1 Stuart
M3A3 Stuart
M5 Stuart
M5A1 Stuart
M22 Locust
M24 Chaffee
M41 Walker Bulldog
M41A1 Walker Bulldog
M551 Sheridan
CCV-L
PT76
AMX13


Medium and Heavy Tanks

Name Type Main Weapon Origin Year
Matilda Mk 2
Crusader
Valentine
Cromwell
Comet
Centurion Mk 5
Centurion Mk 13
Conqueror Mk 1
Chieftain Mk 6
M3 Lee
M3A5 Grant
M4A1 Sherman
M4A3E2 Jumbo
M4A3E8 Easy Eight
M50 Mk 2
M1 Super Sherman
M51HV Isherman
M26A1 Pershing
M47 Patton
M47E1 Patton
M48 Patton
M48A4 Mag'ach
M103A2
M60
M60A1
M60A2 Starship
T3485
IS-3M
T54
T55
T55AM2
T62
T72G
Pz61



APCs

Name Type Main Weapon Origin Year
M2A1
M5
M75
M59
XM734 / Modified M113
BMP1
BTR152
FV432
Saracen
SdKfz 251/1 Ausf D
OT-810
OT-64
PSZH-IV

Tank Destroyers

Name Type Main Weapon Origin Year
M18 Hellcat
M36B2 Jackson
M56 Scorpion
M50 Ontos
M901A1 Improved TO
StuG III Ausf G
Jagdpanzer 38 Hetzer
SU-100
2-Pounder AT Carrier
FV438 BAC Swingfire
Striker
M10 Achilles



Reconnaissance Vehicles

Name Type Main Weapon Origin Year
BMW R75
SdKfz 222
Volkswagen Kubel Type 82
Bren Gun Carrier
Dingo
Humber Mk 4
Ferret Mk 2
Saladin
Fox Prototype
Scorpion
Fox
Eland
M3A1 Scout Car
Ford GPW Jeep
T17E1 Staghound
M8 Greyhound
M20
M39
M114



Self-Propelled Artillery

Name Type Main Weapon Origin Year
Sexton Mk 2 SPH
Abbot SPH
M7B2 Priest SPH
M8 Scott HMC
M37 HMC
M40 GMC
M44 HMC
M52 HMC
M110A2
SS-1b Scud A
2S1 Gvozdika
2S7 Pion
OT-810
M61 Obusier SPH



Artillery/ Mortar / Rocket Launcher

Name Type Main Weapon Origin Year
Model 92
M102
D52
120-HM 38
15-cm Nebelwerfer 42

Antitank Guns

Name Type Main Weapon Origin Year
6-Pounder
M1897A4
Pak 35/36
Pak 40
Pak 97/38
M3
M5
T124E2 Prototype



Antiaircraft Weapons

Name Type Main Weapon Origin Year
M16 Wasp
T17E2 Staghound
M19A1 Duster
M42A1 Duster
ZPU-4
M53/59
Tracked Rapier
Flak 36
Flak 38


Armored and Non-Armored Recovery Vehicles

Name Type Main Weapon Origin Year
M26A1 Pacific
M15A1 transport trailer
Sterling 10-ton Wrecker
M32 ARV
M74 ARV
M62 Wrecker
M88 ARV
M578 ARV
Centurion ARV
Chieftain ARV
Samson ARV



Trucks, Tractors and Prime Movers

Name Type Main Weapon Origin Year
Krupp Kfz81 Protze
SdKfz 8 12-ton
SdKfz 10 1-ton
SdKfz 2 Kleines Kettenkrad
M5A1 High Speed Tractor
M29C Weasel
Mack NO 7.5-ton truck
M274A5 Mule
M43 3/4-ton ambulance
M548A1
M123C 10-ton Tractor
M46 2-1/2-ton truck
M561 Gamma Goat
M998 Hummer


Amphibious Vehicles

Origin Year
Schwimmwagen Typ 166
DUKW amphibious truck
LVT(A)5 Modified



Miscellaneous

Name Type Main Weapon Origin Year
Churchill Crocodile
Churchill AVRE
Saracen CPV
M113 FSV
M202 20-ton crane
RT6000 Folk-Lift
M48A5 AVLB
MTTB FMC Test Bed
Trail Blazer AEV
Long-Track Radar vehicle

 

[Matt308]

...and for those paying attention, he owns a SCUD and tracked launcher.

 

[ccheese]

With a $1.7 billion dollar personal fortune, he can buy just about anything he
wants. Only problem is.... it has to be available, somewhere.

Charles

 

[Gnomey]

True that Charles but still that is an awesome number of vehicles he has collected and restored!

 

[rochie]

saw a program on history channel about his panther.
it came from poland (black river) i think, the turret was destroyed by a self destruction device the crew set off when the tank got stuck trying to ford a river during a fight with the russians and got stuck because the water was deeper than the crew thought.

 

[Matt308]

Here is some more...

 

[CharlesBronson]

Ver nice.

Matt in regard of the T-34 track: Note the drilled and taped holes in the junctions, in those the russian put the so called "grousers" pad wich improved the grip in muddy and snowy conditions. Obviously in hard ground you cant use because the risk to damage the suspension.

 

[Matt308]

Thanks CB for the T-34 info. M48G is right off of the official list from Littlefield. Maybe a typo; or when I cut and paste, I accidentally picked up a letter from another column. I deleted 4 columns of related info to include suspension, armament, country, and year.

 

[comiso90]

I tripped across this completely by chance today.
The video will look familiar... maybe Littlefield would like to know where his stuff is being displayed:

MILITARY VEHICLE OWNERS GUIDE


.

 

[comiso90]

edit.. the video changed but it was a video tour of the collection/...

 

[Matt308]

Here's some more...

 

[ccheese]

Wonderful, Matt, absolutely wonderful. I'll bet most of that stuff will move
with the turn of a key or the push of a button. Thanks for the pic's.

Charles

 

[Njaco]

That StuG III looks awesome!!!!

Didn't see a Panther on that list.

 

[Marcel]

Impressive Matt!!
We have such a guy, collecting this stuff here in the Netherlands as well. He had a museum nearby on an old shipyard. Unfortunately it closed a few years ago.

 

[Clave]

I was just about to say 'where is the Rapier?' and then you posted it...

A hugely impressive collection!

I thought the Muckleborough Collection was good, but this exceeds it..

The Muckleburgh Collection - UK's largest privately owned working Military Museum