Importing a US tank?

[LightningCato]

I've heard people have done it, so, how do I do it?

I found a M31 hull in France that I'd like to buy. - it's a US WWII tank. It's the recovery version so it has no armament and is "demilled". It has no engine or transmission.

Has anyone ever dealt with importing US armor? If so, how did you do it?

 

[Augdog1964]

Rumors

There are only rumors that individual collectors and museums have been allowed to bring in US armor...

If it was Lend Lease and military, doesn't matter if it has armor or not, it is supposedly banned.

I would talk to your U.S. Representative, and I'd file the Form 6 and try. I would make the deal contingent upon the approval of the Form 6 ONLY. Don't buy it unless you can get approval.

Report back!

 

[Stalwart]

Sorry, you're stuck unless you can get an exemption from the US State Department, good luck with that. Even Jacques Littlefield, the now deceased billionaire, ran into difficulties and I don't think that even he was able to import an M4A4 Sherman in from the UK, that model was lend-lease only. We decided to punish the Brits with that 30 cylinder nightmare.

 

[JohnAbrams21]

Frankly we paid for stuff with our tax money, blood and hard work. Is it only for lend lease stuff that they can't import? Why not even stuff like trucks and non-armored vehicles?

 

[Stan Leschert]

USA items the went off shore are really hard to bring back. Gov't does not want to deal with it. Some parts can be brought home but not much.

You are going to give your lawyer a lot of money for this project.

Get a carcass here, and then try to bring back bits.
It may go easier, and you will definately want the backing of a musem.

Even so, it isn't going to be as easy as writing a cheque, and arranging shipping.

 

[LightningCato]

I just talked to someone who got imports approved many times in the late 1990's. I'm still going to try even though it doesn't look to good. If anyone does have more recent experience with this, please contact me.

 

[dogtags]

While difficult, it is not impossible. It has been done in the past after the ban was in place.

G503.com Message Forums • View topic - Sherman turret

~Robert

 

[B3.3T]

You have a second major hurdle; exporting from France is not so easy, either. It is NOT the UK. The is a lot of paperwork that needs signed by the right person on the right day. France can be a real problem.

 

[o1951]

Please keep us posted.
I find your project VERY interesting.
Best of luck

 

[LightningCato]

Already made a post on G503...I forgot I had an account on there.

I'm going to make an attempt at getting it anyways. I'm making an offer to someone in the US that has one, though they won't get back to me on anything, even something unrelated that I asked them once awhile ago. It's starting to annoy me a bit.

However if all else fails, I have a friend that maybe scratch building an M3. They've built excellent replicas before. I may try to buy the replica from them. Having a replica is the next best thing if I can't get the real deal.