Military Vehicle Technology Foundation

Military Vehicle Technology Foundation
Location of the collection
Established 1998
Location Portola Valley, California
Coordinates 37°12′04″N 122°06′46″W / 37.200978°N 122.112816°W / 37.200978; -122.112816
Type Military museum
Director Founder Jacques Littlefield (d.2009), Chairman of the Board Scott Littlefield, President Bill Boller
Curator Dave Marian[1]
Website http://www.mvtf.org

The Military Vehicle Technology Foundation is a large collection of military vehicles located in Portola Valley, California, USA. It was founded in 1975 by Jacques Littlefield, and now is under the direction of Bill Boller.

The first acquisition was an unrestored M3A1 Scout Car. The first two tanks arrived on site in 1983, and by 1988 the collection comprised five armored vehicles. Subsequent military vehicles and associated equipment were acquired from dealers, collectors, or in trade with various museums or government agencies in the United States and abroad. By the middle of the 1990s the collection included examples from almost all historically significant land battles of the last half-century. The oldest armored military vehicle in the collection is a World War I era M1917 light tank.[2]

The Foundation was established in early 1998. Littlefield's major objective for the Foundation was to preserve the collection for the future.[2] Over 200 armored fighting vehicles are present in the collection.[3] The foundation offers tours of its collection. In July 2014, tours were available with a mandatory donation until the inventory was transported to the new museum in Stow.[4]

In 2012 the foundation started a new program in conjunction with the Boy Scouts of America to start the youth Venturing Crew 551. Crew 551's stated goals were to assist in the restoration of vehicles, and to help educate the public through tours and presentations about the significance of armored vehicles throughout history.[5]

The foundation signed over its collection to the Collings Foundation on July 4, 2013. A year later, the Collings Foundation auctioned off 120 of the vehicles to fund creation of a new museum to display the collection at the Collings Foundation headquarters in Stow, Massachusetts.[6] Following the auction, Vulcan Warbirds (founded and owned by Paul Allen) sued the Collings Foundation and Auctions America, the auctioneer for breach of contract when the rare Panzer IV tank was not turned over to Vulcan Warbirds.[7] Vulcan stated they had negotiated a purchase price of US$2,500,000 (equivalent to $2,500,000 in 2015) after the tank failed to meet its reserve price during the auction. Collings claimed the sale was valid only if an equivalent piece could be sourced.

In 2015, the Stow Planning Board questioned the educational merit of the proposed museum. The educational purpose was needed in order to allow the planned 60,000-square-foot (5,600 m2) museum to be built on land that was zoned for residential use.[8][9] The Planning Board rejected the foundation's application in August 2015.[10]

References

  1. ↑ Miller, Stephen (7 February 2009). "For Big Collector of Tanks, Panzer Was Last Hurrah". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 11 March 2016. (subscription required (help)).
  2. 1 2 "About Us". Military Vehicle Technology Foundation (MVTF). Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  3. ↑ "Introduction to our Collection". Military Vehicle Technology Foundation (MVTF). Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  4. ↑ "Tours: General Public". Military Vehicle Technology Foundation (MVTF). Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  5. ↑ "About Us". Venturing Tank Crew 551. 2012. Archived from the original on 1 June 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  6. ↑ "Silicon Valley tank collection heading east to The Collings Foundation in Stow". The Springfield Republican. AP. 11 November 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  7. ↑ La Ganga, Maria L. (12 September 2014). "Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen sues over Nazi tank he says he bought". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  8. ↑ Needle, Ann (29 July 2015). "Planning Board Wrestles with Collings Museum Application ...". The Stow Independent. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  9. ↑ Strohl, Daniel (5 August 2015). "Plans for museum to house the ex-Littlefield military vehicle collection stalled". Hemmings. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  10. ↑ Sweeney, Emily (31 August 2015). "Proposed military museum is voted down in Stow". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 11 March 2016.

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