Jacques Littlefield, tank collector, dies Carolyn Jones, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
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Jacques Littlefield, an unassuming multimillionaire who amassed the country's largest private collection of tanks and other military armored vehicles, died Wednesday at his Portola Valley ranch. He was
59.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mr. Littlefield had battled colon cancer for a decade.
"He was one of the nicest guys I ever met," said Charles Lemons, a longtime friend and a curator at the George Patton Museum in Fort Knox, Ky., where Mr. Littlefield served on the board. "With Jacques, what you saw was what you got. It's sad we lost him so early."
Mr. Littlefield owned about 200 tanks, self-propelled guns, armored personnel carriers, anti-aircraft vehicles and other heavy combat vehicles, ranging from an M1917 "Six-Ton Tractor" from World War I to a Russian T-72 used by Saddam Hussein's forces in the Iraq war.
He painstakingly restored the vehicles and kept them in a football- field-size showroom on his ranch. In accordance with state and federal law, none of tanks had functioning firing apparatus, but he did occasionally drive them around his 470-acre property.
A jewel in his collection is the German Panzer V Panther tank that the German army sank in a Polish river during World War II to keep it from the advancing Russians. The Panther sat submerged for decades, and Mr. Littlefield acquired it five years ago and began restoring it.
"Restoration is very satisfying, especially with something like the Panther," Mr. Littlefield said in a 2007 interview with The Chronicle. "People say: 'You'll never get that thing running again.' Well, it was built once, and we can do it again."
Mr. Littlefield was born in San Francisco and grew up in Burlingame. He attended the Cate School, a boarding school near Santa Barbara, and later received a bachelor's degree and a master's in business adminstration from Stanford. He worked for Hewlett Packard for five years as manufacturing engineer.
In the mid-1970s, he quit working and devoted himself full time to managing his investments. He also started collecting large vehicles, such as fire trucks, trains and eventually tanks, continuing an interest he developed as a child.
"When we were kids he was always making models and dioramas," said David Hannah, a friend of Mr. Littlefield's from the Cate School. "He was always very interested in how things worked."
Mr. Littlefield's interest in tanks was largely technical, not based on their military or historical significance. His collection was not open to the public, but he gave private tours to about 4,000 historians, Boy Scouts, journalists and veterans a year.
"There's nothing like it," said Hans Halberstadt of San Jose, an author of several military history books who frequently brought fellow historians to see Mr. Littlefield's collection. "He gathered these machines and made them available for study. And he was brilliant at understanding how they worked. I really respected him."
By studying tanks, historians and engineers can learn how various designs worked under differing battle conditions and how each model balanced mobility, armor and fire power, Halberstadt said.
Because of the breadth and pristine condition of his collection, Mr. Littlefield provided an invaluable resource for those who study war and technology, Halberstadt said.
The collection is now under the control of Mr. Littlefield's foundation, the Military Vehicle Technology Foundation, whose board will decide in coming months how to proceed.
Mr. Littlefield served on numerous boards, including those at the Cate School, Coyote Point Museum, Hoover Institution, California Academy of Sciences and the Filoli estate. He was also a member of the Bohemian Club.
He is survived by his wife, Sandy Montenegro Littlefield of Portola Valley, and his mother, Jeannik Littlefield of San Mateo. In addition, he leaves five children - David, Scott, Allison, Jacques Jr. and Jeannik - and a grandson.
Plans for a memorial are pending.
E-mail Carolyn Jones at carolynjones@sfchronicle