TANKS! A lot of 'em! (The Littlefield Collection)

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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I took a tour of the Military Vehicle Technology Foundation yesterday. Outside of a war movie, I’ve never seen so many tanks in one place!

Hidden away in the foothills of Portola Valley (Ca,) is a mecca for anyone interested in tanks or armored military vehicles. If you want to see a Sherman, Panzer, Panther,Patton, M60, T54, Centurion, a Scorpion or a Scud Launcher…this is the place to go.

The Foundation is the legacy of Jacques Littlefield. Over the course of 30 years, he assembled one of the top collections of tanks and amored vehicles in the world. After his death, the foundation was created to carry on with the restoration work and provide access to the public.

Tours are offered every weekend and by special arrangement. For a $20 donation, you get a 2-3 hour docent-led ramble of 4 buildings that house about half of the collection. My only disappointment was I didn’t get to see the propeller from the Lusitania…apparently they sold it to Ross Perot.

My photos from the tour

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It’s one of the places on my “must see/to do” list.

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For people on the other coast, the Army Ordinance Museum at the Aberdeen Proving Ground is pretty cool.

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Was that where they filmed the Mythbusters episode about the phone books? It was a museum in California with a bunch of tanks.

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Yes…the clip from Mythbusters was definitely filmed in the staging area in front of the main buildings.

There are quite a few youtube videos featuring tanks from this collection, including Jacques crushing a Mercedes during one of his 4th of July parties.

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For those in the middle of the country there is the Patton Museum at Fort Knox KY.

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Not tanks, but the artillery museum at Ft. Sill in OK is pretty cool too. The DOD has a lot of museums all over the cointry.