Warbird Information Exchange

So I got the Collings Foundations News Letter.
I’m confused, are they auctioning off the Jacques Littlefield Vehicle Collection?

Phil

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A man's got to know his limitations.

They're selling about 2/3 of the collection to raise funds to build a facility to house the remaining vehicles.

110 items to be sold in the auction, mostly duplicates. 80+ items of the core collection will be moved to Stow. The Littlefield board and Collings Board decided what would go into the auction.

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"You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass..."
Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto

Thanks for the info guys.

Phil

_________________
A man's got to know his limitations.

From what I've seen listed so far quite a few of the auction lots are sole survivors or one-off irreplacable vehicles. Looks like the collection is being gutted.

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Those who possess real knowledge are rare.

Those who can set that knowledge into motion in the physical world are rarer still.

The few who possess real knowledge and can set it into motion of their own hands are the rarest of all.

Are those vehicles (the ones being sold) operable?
It seems that Collings places a premium on vehicles that run.

I'm a believer is items going to were they'll be most appreciated, if that means sending a tank back to Germany (or wherever), fine...especially if it provides funds to hose/maintain the other vehicles.

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Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.

Just like in Warbirds, rare and unique don't always translate to desirable. Many of the vehicles being sold from the collection are unique but not really representative of the majority of the vehicles seen in a front line army. Also, many of the items going for sale are duplicates of vehicles in the core collection or aren't complete. The important vehicles are staying. It just pains me that this is really not what Jaques wanted. There is plenty of money in his estate to keep his collection together, a foundation endowed to support it and a site to display it, but the family just wants the cash and to be rid of the collection.
Tom Bowers

Can someone post a link to the list?

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Kevin McCartney

Here is a link to the auction: http://www.auctionsamerica.com/events/o ... eCode=LC14

As for plenty of money in the estate, why did they lay off the restoration staff, and sell vehicles starting in 2009 shortly after Jacques passed away if there was not a need to do so? The family is not interested, and the collection was located in the middle of their 400 acre property. Staying there long term was not an option. You can not move and support a 250+ vehicle collection with doing $20 per person tours one day a week. There was plenty of "ideas" that had been explored since 2009, and the agreement with The Collings Foundation is the only one that kept the core of the collection together under a common collection.

You've got to admire the military vehicle collectors who have the heavy stuff (not just the cute Jeeps and Dodge Powerwagons).

Imagine having a 20(?) ton vehicle that requires a semi to take it anywhere...
or a restoration shop where cranes, hoists and forklifts are as necessary as a wrench (On the other hand, you don't have to worry about shiny paint and scratches ).

I have an old car that requires a trailer to take it to distant shows, imagine that X100!

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Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.

Hey! I think our Jeep is pretty bada$$!!!! Id love to own a Sherman but that may be a little expensive.

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Keep Em' Flying,
Christopher Soltis
Dedicated to the preservation and education of The Sikorsky Memorial Airport

CASC Blog Page: http://ctair-space.blogspot.com/
Warbird Wear: https://www.redbubble.com/people/warbirdwear/shop

Chicks Dig Warbirds.......right?

20 ton does not even begin to touch it. A M4 Sherman (medium tank) is 32 ton. There are vehicles coming to Stow as heavy as 52 ton, that is 104,000 pounds! Oh, and it is also 12 feet wide.

Think Collings is going to charter a freight train? Would make the most sense to me.

_________________
Keep Em' Flying,
Christopher Soltis
Dedicated to the preservation and education of The Sikorsky Memorial Airport

CASC Blog Page: http://ctair-space.blogspot.com/
Warbird Wear: https://www.redbubble.com/people/warbirdwear/shop

Chicks Dig Warbirds.......right?

Train is one method that is being looked at. There are issues with movement by train (security, no single cross country hauler) that have to be addressed, but it is looking like that is going to be one of the options for the larger items that would be too difficult to move by road that distance.

As for plenty of money in the estate, why did they lay off the restoration staff, and sell vehicles starting in 2009 shortly after Jacques passed away if there was not a need to do so? The family is not interested, and the collection was located in the middle of their 400
acre property. Staying there long term was not an option. You can not move and support
a 250+ vehicle collection with doing $20 per person tours one day a week. There was plenty of "ideas" that had been explored since 2009, and the agreement with The Collings Foundation is the only one that kept the core of the collection together under a common collection.[/quote]

I agree that Collings is a fantastic organization and I'm happy that they have become the custodians of the collection, It's just that everyone I knew who knew Jaques personally (I've been around MVs for 20+years) agrees that this isn't what Jaques wanted. The family has plenty of money but isn't interested in preserving Jaques legacy intact. The activities at the museum were curtailed by the family. This is mainly a failure of Jaques to adequately plan for his collection after he passed away. Imagine if Kermit Weeks would pass away and his family decided to scatter his life's collection to the wind. In this case Collings stepped up and was able to keep together the majority of the collection, but it still isnt' how Jaques wanted it.
Tom Bowers