Real Men Own A Tank. But Does It Get You Laid?

by Bertel Schmitt

Published: February 28th, 2013

real men own a tank but does it get you laid

Going to Barrett-Jackson to buy a classic car is for sissies, says the Wall Street Journal. Real men collect tanks. Not Hummers. Tanks.

The number of private tank collectors in the U.S. is estimated to be between several hundred and 1,000. It’s a growing hobby, says the paper.

They have everything in their at-home armory, from WW2 Shermans to more recent vintage 1966 MY British Chieftain tanks.

Parts and MPG? Don’t ask:

“A set of rubber tracks for a Chaffee goes for about $6,000. A Chieftain gets about 250 miles on 200 gallons of diesel. Mechanics say vintage tanks require an hour or more of maintenance for every hour of operation. A turret-to-tracks restoration can require 2,000 man-hours or more of labor, at $50 or more an hour. That’s not including the cost of hard-to-find tank parts.”

As for the chick magnet: Tank collectors usually get a divorce, says the WSJ.

#BertelSchmitt #Tanks

Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

More by Bertel Schmitt

Comments

Join the conversation

2 of 76 comments

Jeffzekas on Feb 28, 2013

Tanks & exotic cars: cool to guys, uncool to girls. Personally, I'd go for a fiberglass REPLICA tank: light, cheap, but with the awesome look.

Like Reply
RobertRyan on Feb 28, 2013

How to buy a Tank ,Australian style. nice 105mm needs a few repairs. http://www.flickr.com/photos/traceyjohns/1837610865/sizes/z/in/photostream/

Like Reply

Recent Comments

Jeff Self driving cars are not ready for prime time.
Lichtronamo Watch as the non-us based automakers shift more production to Mexico in the future.
28-Cars-Later " Electrek recently dug around in Tesla’s online parts catalog and found that the windshield costs a whopping $1,900 to replace.To be fair, that’s around what a Mercedes S-Class or Rivian windshield costs, but the Tesla’s glass is unique because of its shape. It’s also worth noting that most insurance plans have glass replacement options that can make the repair a low- or zero-cost issue. "Now I understand why my insurance is so high despite no claims for years and about 7,500 annual miles between three cars.
AMcA My theory is that that when the Big 3 gave away the store to the UAW in the last contract, there was a side deal in which the UAW promised to go after the non-organized transplant plants. Even the UAW understands that if the wage differential gets too high it's gonna kill the golden goose.
MKizzy Why else does range matter? Because in the EV advocate's dream scenario of a post-ICE future, the average multi-car household will find itself with more EVs in their garages and driveways than places to plug them in or the capacity to charge then all at once without significant electrical upgrades. Unless each vehicle has enough range to allow for multiple days without plugging in, fighting over charging access in multi-EV households will be right up there with finances for causes of domestic strife.