I went on a tour of the late Jacques Littlefield's tank collection at his Portola Valley ranch just south of San Francisco. You can set up a visit by contacting his foundation. The waiting list is about two months long. The tour is only held on weekends. There is a $20 donation/entrance charge.
The tour was in depth, fascinating, and took about three hours. There are over 200 tanks and other combat vehicles in four large warehouses. The highlight of the trip for me was not one, but two SCUD missiles sitting on top trucks!
Here is the parking lot as you enter. It's insane.
This is the oldest tank in the collection, an American M1917 Six Ton. It is a copy of a French model. None of these American tanks saw any action in World War I. The turret is manually operated, i.e. the gunner used his shoulder to swivel it.
These bullet holes were supposedly created as a part of armor testing before the tank came off the assembly line.
Obligatory Sherman tank. Surprised to learn that they were virtually useless against the German tanks.
In Soviet Russia, Red Star gets you!
"For Stalin" (T-34).
USA! USA!
These ridges supposedly acted as an anti-magnet to repel magnetic mines (not sure).
Czech please.
T-55.
East German.
These flimsy flaps somehow stopped incoming projectiles. Sorry, I listened to three hours of info without a notebook so I don't remember everything.
This Israeli M48A4 tank is interesting. It fought in two wars. In the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, someone fired an RPG at the rear of the tank on the Sinai Peninsula. The little hole it caused can be seen below.
That hole is in the bottom left hand corner of this photo, which gives you some perspective. Well, the RPG entered the tank through that hole it created and seriously f'ed up the transmission and engine and disabled the tank. Amazing what a well-aimed RPG can do.
BMW R75 bike with sidecar in the front, first of two SCUD missiles in the background.
VW Kubelwagen Type 82.
I like the African palm tree insignia, sans swastika. Very Indiana Jones.
We're getting closer to the SCUD missile.
Bam! That's an SS-1c SCUD B missile. I heart the Eastern Bloc transporter with yellow foglights.
This is a late 1960s Soviet long-track radar vehicle.
Inside of the radar vehicle.
First aid instructions in Czech(?).
Here is an older SS-1b SCUD A missile.
Infrared "light" popular in the 60s and 70s.
Weird insignia.
Sweden!
Palm tree without the swastika.
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