We’ve raised more than half of the £50,000 required to restore our M47 Patton tank, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s favourite armoured vehicle, to running order!
In June 2024, we launched a £50,000 fundraising campaign to revive our M47 Patton tank.
The US built M47 probably isn’t the most interesting tank in history, but it is an important part of the Cold War story. It also has a famous fan in Arnold Schwarzenegger, who served in an M47 in the Austrian military, later purchasing the tank he crewed.
In the five months since the campaign was launched, over £15,000 has been raised from crowd-sourced donations as well as £1,800 through the auction of a fully functioning 1/6 scale remote control M47 model kindly gifted to fund the restoration.
The Museum has also received £10,000 from Cook Defence Systems Ltd., the world’s leading independent designer and manufacturer of tracks for armoured vehicles.
William Cook, Director of Cook Defence Systems Ltd. said “The Tank Museum is not only a historical collection; it is a unique and valuable resource for the whole Armoured Fighting Vehicle (AFV) community, including engineering companies like Cook Defence Systems. We are pleased to support its important work.”
Marketing Manager Lucy McCalister said, “We are so grateful for the support of individual supporters and organisations like Cook Defence Systems, who have made this restoration possible.”
“Though the M47 has often been described as ‘the most boring tank in the world’, it is an important piece of the story of Cold War tank development, and a significant addition to our running vehicles collection,” Lucy added.
The restoration is being undertaken in partnership with engineer Matthew Pyle, the best person for the job having recently completed his own M47 restoration project. The M47 was transported to Matthew Pyle’s workshop in October 2024 and is expected to be in running condition ready for TANKFEST 2025.
