Tank Tour: World’s Largest Private Collection of Historic Military Vehicles (BB Video)

In today’s edition of Boing Boing Video, guest-host Todd Lappin explores a massive collection of historical military vehicles tanks collected by an eccentric Silicon Valley multimillionaire. The recently-departed Jacques Littlefield amassed one of the world’s largest and most significant collections of this type, and his collection is now overseen by the nonprofit Military Vehicle Technology Foundation. Snip from their description:

“Our goal is to acquire, restore, and interpret the historical significance of 20th and 21st century military vehicles. Domestic and foreign combat vehicles such as tanks, armored cars, self-propelled artillery, and other technically interesting mobile platforms are the focus of the collection. We also maintain an extensive technical library that describes many vehicles down to the part level. Aside from the vehicles, there are towed artillery, antitank, and antiaircraft guns. Military support equipment, inert ordnance, and accessories round out the collection.”

The foundation is supported by public donations, and you can make one at their website if you dig what they do. To make arrangements for tours, you can email tours.mvtf at gmail.com. To arrange access to the collection for commercial purposes: permissions.mvtf at gmail.com.
The “tank tour” BBV shot for this episode was organized by BB pal Karen Marcelo and Dorkbot SF.

BOING BOING POST: http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2009/06/02/bb-video-tank-tour–.html

Duration : 0:6:40


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25 Responses to Tank Tour: World’s Largest Private Collection of Historic Military Vehicles (BB Video)

  1. MrGimli2 says:

    that is so cool how …
    that is so cool how and where does he find them he must have conectionsto some pritty cool ppl

  2. lortmedore says:

    He must have been …
    He must have been wealthy. I am sure a tank is not cheap and the shipping fee must be huge!

  3. jeffsh8818 says:

    so long Jacques
    so long Jacques

  4. madjohne says:

    If you’re …
    If you’re interested in Tanks & other historical military equipment, and you’re in Southern California, please visit the American Military Museum in South El Monte. They have many Tanks, Cannons, a Huey Helicopter, and more!

  5. tankschannel says:

    nice video
    nice video

  6. brattman64 says:

    Great Stuff
    Great Stuff

  7. brattman64 says:

    Great Stuff
    Great Stuff

  8. BigAndTall666 says:

    The application of …
    The application of Zimmerit to german panzers was also halted due to some wild rumours that it would catch fire if hit…..Zimmerit is inert, but imagination runs rampant when you donĀ“t know better and your vehicle is on fire…In the end the lack of Zimmerit did save on fuel due to the lower weight of a vehicle without such fancies….

  9. jamesmarshall49 says:

    They were gonna get …
    They were gonna get some French tanks but they backed out…

  10. JAGDPANTHER20 says:

    Heil!
    Heil!

  11. waqas1887 says:

    @GreenDragon1947

    @GreenDragon1947
    hey ur the guy with the “battle of chawinda” video right……where did u get the footage?

  12. Briselance says:

    Do they have tanks …
    Do they have tanks from France or Italy ?

  13. lagbas59 says:

    were is that place …
    were is that place in us?

  14. GreenDragon1947 says:

    hhhm! intersting!
    hhhm! intersting!

  15. skah07 says:

    so when ww2.. they …
    so when ww2.. they use the signs to hit… and today they use those optics for accurate fire.. and 3 miles distance?.. wow

  16. MegaLiopleurodon says:

    @skah07 – The …
    @skah07 – The German Army is probably the last one, showing up such insignia. Must have something to do with tradition and pride.
    I’ve watched other vids, showing Abrams, Challenger or Merkava, none of them bears a similar marking, they use numbers and things like chevrons or other stripes.
    But optics are so advanced and deadly precise today, guess, you don’t need such markings to hit. Abrams destroyed many Iraqi tanks from 3 miles distance – no escape !

  17. skah07 says:

    @MegaLiopleurodon . …
    @MegaLiopleurodon .. so why they dont use a flag replacement for the seal?..

  18. MegaLiopleurodon says:

    @skah07 – Yes, they …
    @skah07 – Yes, they may rip. Strange, that the Americans didn’t learn from a similar fault, made by the Germans during the Poland campaign. Early in the war, all tanks had a simple, large white cross, and Polish gunners used that as an aid to aim. After that, the more familiar black/white Balkenkreuz was painted on,

  19. skah07 says:

    @MegaLiopleurodon …
    @MegaLiopleurodon rip for the sherman crews who died because of that

  20. MegaLiopleurodon says:

    @skah07 – That guy …
    @skah07 – That guy was absolutely right, as most German tank-crews aimed exactly on that bright white star, and many Shermans had the hole right in the middle of the star !

  21. skah07 says:

    so we do is we add …
    so we do is we add an armor but the stupid part is we put the star on it…haha

  22. amerikaner101 says:

    i wish i was rich …
    i wish i was rich and bought tanks like that

  23. 1kingconan says:

    my god that is sick …
    my god that is sick what an amazing collection that would be soooooo cooool to have all those tanks and stuff. my god. end there was funny putting star there to signal where to aim and shoot :)

  24. Danie9989 says:

    i would love to …
    i would love to have a ww2 tank

  25. MasterChiefultra says:

    ON FOR ZEE GERMAN …
    ON FOR ZEE GERMAN COUNTRY
    I WILL TAKE ZEM MY SELF
    LOL
    he could have counquered a country though