Sherman M4 and Half tracks - Is this a new one or old news?

[fesm_ndt]

http://www.bronzecannons.net/shermantank.html

 

http://www.bronzecannons.net/halftracks.html

[ajmac]

Not bad, price seems a tad steep considering it is basically an empty hull, having said that it is a Sherman Vc (Firefly), however I doubt the crate engine they talk about is a NOS Multibank :-)

[eddy8men]

i reckon it's a fair price and i'm sure you could come up with a deal to include the engine. if i had £50k knocking about i'd consider it

 

rick

[ajmac]

Mulling it over again Rick, I suppose it actually makes financial sense, if you had the spare cash and did the work yourself you could actually make money out of it! £50k with what I imagine would be a used R975 radial thrown in, £10k? to sort out the 17pdr and mount, then you have got £40k to cover shipping, fabrication of all missing internal parts, set of new rubber tracks from JS and there'd you go....You have spent £100k but it would be worth in excess of £200k, even with a Radial. If you could source an M4 Hybrid Firefly as a basis, there would be no compromises and I bet you could be getting close to £300k.

But never mind all that money talk, just bringing a Firefly back to life would be all the reward I would want:-)

[bonnie_scott]

Just wondered what distinguishing features identify it as a firefly as (and I may have missed it) the description on the web site didn't say anything?

 

Cheers,

Julian

[ajmac]

It has a quite distinct armoured plate welded over the hull machine gun position and on the rear shot you can just make out the remains of the brackets that held the 17pr barrel transit lock rear left on the top deck plate. On the turret side of things, there is a large armour plate box welded on the back, the radio was located in this as the breach of the 17pr filled the Sherman turret requiring the radio relocation.

 

I presume that the seller doesn't know it is a Firefly.

Edited July 16, 2012 by ajmac

[RattlesnakeBob]

so ....would this be one of the 4 or 500 Shermans in Argentina that had been converted with modern diesel motors and a modern gun that was being discussed on here a week or so ago ??........

either way.....I agree with what was said earlier ...I don't reckon the price is out of order myself...... and the halftracks ain't bad at that whack either I would have thought .....

anyone capable of rebuilding her would surely be capable of rebuilding a secondhand engine as well so..go for the secondhand motor and she'll cost $68000...that' about £44,000 by my reckoning ..ok plus shipping at whatever but ...in my mind that Sherman would be 100 times better investment than say a new Range Rover or and Aston Martin or whatever else 60 or 70 grand would buy you ....

Edited July 16, 2012 by RattlesnakeBob

[fesm_ndt]

Ahhhhh good to find something for the tanky guys to discuss as we all get to live vivaciously through their projects

 

I just need to find some more bait stuff for them :-D

 

 

inservice piccies of said tank/s http://mailer.fsu.edu/~akirk/tanks/argentina/argentina.html

[Adrian Barrell]

''£40k to cover shipping, fabrication of all missing internal parts, set of new rubber tracks from JS and there'd you go''

 

You would need nearer £95k to do all of that, not to mention that 17pdr installations are next to impossible to find.

[ajmac]

Even if it were £120k on top of the purchase price you still wouldn't be out of pocket at todays crazy prices!

Edited July 17, 2012 by ajmac

[RattlesnakeBob]

Even if it were £120k on top of the purchase price you still wouldn't be out of pocket at todays crazy prices!

 

.and!!!!!

.....even at somewhere around £180,000 / £200,000 finished and done.....she'd still be only the same price roughly as a a top of the range Bentley or Ferrari etc......

AND.....unlike a motor such as that she'd actually keep and even increase in value...

..think about it....

just what will a running & completely restored Sherman be worth in say another 30 years time on perhaps the 100th Anniversary of D-Day ?????? mind boggling

worth every penny. now........where's my lottery ticket?

[fesm_ndt]

How much was the Withams MBT without an engine sold for recently?

 

$250,000.00 http://www.armyjeeps.net/GrizzlySherman/Grizzly%20Sherman%20Tank.htm

 

$465,000.00 http://www.armyjeeps.net/M4-1103/index.htm

 

$325,000.00 http://www.armyjeeps.net/Grizzlesherman/1943_grizzly_sherman_tank.htm

 

Would of been cheaper http://www.imcbrokers.com/blog/overview/p/detail/us-world-war-ii-tank-dredged-from-manila-bay

 

$22.00 http://aviationshoppe.com/us-m4a3-medium-tank-sherman-p-1386.html

[Adrian Barrell]

All these huge asking prices are all very well but what are they actually selling for?

[ajmac]

All these huge asking prices are all very well but what are they actually selling for?

 

Good point, well made.

[fesm_ndt]

All these huge asking prices are all very well but what are they actually selling for?

 

I was going to say some of them are not as pretty inside as recent restorations in here.

 

What about overall completeness?

 

Also what about the rarity of the composite?

[Adrian Barrell]

The composite hulls are not that rare, two have been imported into the UK in the last five years, one large hatch in very complete condition and one small hatch that is undergoing a full restoration. Both will emerge in excellent condition.

[RattlesnakeBob]

I do like the all steel tracks on the Grizzly,they look like they'd be way better off road than the traditional rubber block type....are they 'standard' on a Grizzly Adrian???

[bonnie_scott]

It has a quite distinct armoured plate welded over the hull machine gun position and on the rear shot you can just make out the remains of the brackets that held the 17pr barrel transit lock rear left on the top deck plate. On the turret side of things, there is a large armour plate box welded on the back, the radio was located in this as the breach of the 17pr filled the Sherman turret requiring the radio relocation.

 

I presume that the seller doesn't know it is a Firefly.

 

Many thanks for the education

[Adrian Barrell]

are they 'standard' on a Grizzly Adrian???

 

They are Canadian Dry Pin tracks, CDP. The Grizzlies were built on standard US track and sprockets but fitted with CDP later. Late Sextons were built on CDP. It is lighter than standard US live track but does wear as other dry tracks.