From: Steve Grammont (islander@midmaine.com)
Date: Tue Nov 26 2002 - 12:45:09 PST
Dave,
Good overall view of the Hellcat, M18. I for one would love to have it
in my garage-yet-to-be-built. $45k is not a bad price, but that is just
for the priveledge of having a big thing leaking oil in your garage :-)
Actually, more than that since shipping and loading fees need to be
factored in!
One side note about the gun in the M18. The gun itself was fantastic,
but the ammo was not. The AP rounds were highly prone to shattering
against the frontal armor of Tigers and Panthers. This was due to flaws
in the metalurgical process at the factory. To the best of my knowledge
this flaw was never fixed. However, Hellcats had so many other things
going for them that this was not an issue that affected the overall
performance of the vehicle in combat. However, one wonders if a couple
of those 17 tanks lost might not have been.
BTW, I had a friend who interviewed several vets from a Hellcat
battalion. Interesting stuff.
Steve
> As an investment the M18 is the deal also quite rare. On the other hand the
>M20 without seeing it looks in better shape but is not near as rare.
>The engine in the M18 is the very reliable Wright R975 it is of aircraft
>design used in Stearmans and Lockheed 10's (Amelia Earharts's plane) and
>many other applications many are flying today, parts are plentiful and they
>are easily restored. This tank has the 76mm gun which dates it to about
>1943.
>The M18 was very successful against Tigers and Panther with the 630th tank
>destroyer battalion knocking out 53 German tanks and losing only 17 M18's in
>1944 the M18 is a very up to date design for the time having torsion bar
>suspension and center guided track as well as a low silhouette and well a
>sloped hull and an automatic transmission. It was built by GMC at the Buick
>plant.
>This is a great piece of American history imagine yourself flanking a Tiger
>and calling for an AP round and positioning your tank to fire on that Tiger
>I think most would agree this tank deserves a good home and to be restored
>to its former glory wearing the 630th markings as a tribute to those men in
>those 17 tanks who gave everything they had.
>The cost might be high 15K to do this but it is a 15K well spent.
>
>Dave Ball
>
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Steve Grammont" <islander@midmaine.com>
>To: "Military Vehicles Mailing List" <mil-veh@mil-veh.org>
>Sent: Tuesday, November 26, 2002 10:24 AM
>Subject: Re: [MV] Nice toys on Ebay
>
>
>> Hi Jason,
>>
>> > Enjoy, the only really good deal would be the M18, the M20 is a bit
>> >overpriced.
>>
>> Funny, I had the opposite reaction :-) The M20 appears to be priced
>> "right" relative to what I have seen M8s going for recently ($40k+), is
>> running, has had recent work done, and looks to be in great/complete
>> shape. The M18, OTOH, needs a lot of work to get it into shape. Not
>> running condition? Boy... with an engine like that, I wouldn't even want
>> to guess how much work/money it would take to get it into running
>> condition. Not to mention replacing something like the instrument pannel.
>>
>> Mind you, I don't think the M18 price is horrible, just that for $28k you
>> walk away with basically a "done" vehicle with the M20, but for the
>> M18... $45k and the "fun" is only just begun :-) If you have the shop,
>> experience, and time to restore something as big, old, and unique as the
>> M18 this could be a good price. For anybody else wanting it for more
>> than a big paperweight, not a good option.
>>
>> Steve
>>
>>
>>
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>
>===Mil-Veh is a member-supported mailing list===
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>
>
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