Jacques Littlefield
Jacques Littlefield | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 21, 1949 San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Died | January 7, 2009 (aged 59) |
| Occupation(s) | Military vehicle collector, founder of Military Vehicle Technology Foundation |
| Known for | Creator of the Military Vehicle Technology Foundation and extensive historic military vehicle collection |
Jacques Littlefield (November 21, 1949 – January 7, 2009) was the creator of the Military Vehicle Technology Foundation (MVTF), also referred to as the Littlefield collection.
Collection
Over his lifetime, Littlefield gathered an extensive assortment exceeding 220 historic military vehicles. His collection featured items such as a Panther tank, multiple M4 Sherman tanks, an SS-1 Scud missile launcher, and even a propeller from the Lusitania ocean liner.
Biography
Jacques Littlefield was born in San Francisco, California, to Edmund Wattis Littlefield, who once led Utah Construction Company as CEO, and Jeannik Méquet Littlefield, a patron of the arts connected with the San Francisco Opera. His fascination with military vehicles originated in his youth through building plastic models and eventually led to purchasing his first full-scale vehicle—a World War II era M3 Scout Car—in 1975. To oversee and maintain the expanding collection, he founded the Military Vehicle Technology Foundation in 1998.
Raised in Burlingame, California, Littlefield completed his early education locally before obtaining a bachelor's degree in 1971 and an MBA in 1973 from Stanford University. He spent five years employed as a manufacturing engineer at Hewlett Packard prior to committing himself entirely to his museum and vehicle restoration projects.
His leadership roles extended to several boards, including those of the General George Patton Museum, Cate School, the Coyote Point Museum for Environmental Education, the Hoover Institution, the California Academy of Sciences, and the Filoli Center. As a member of the Bohemian Club, he held the position of Captain for its Sempervirens camp.
Following a protracted struggle with colon cancer lasting ten years, Littlefield passed away on January 7, 2009.
In July 2014, an auction sold 160 vehicles from his collection to finance a new museum. The resulting American Heritage Museum, located at the Collings Foundation headquarters in Stow, Massachusetts, opened its doors in May 2019 and currently exhibits more than 85 vehicles originating from the Littlefield collection.
References
- Brown, Patricia Leigh. "DRIVING; To the Collector, The Spoils." New York Times, November 28, 2003.
- Goldman, Jim. "Tanks for the Memories: Jacques Littlefield Passes Away." Tech News, CNBC, January 13, 2009.
- Jones, Carolyn. "Jacques Littlefield, tank collector, dies." San Francisco Chronicle, January 13, 2009.
- Miller, Stephen. "Jacques Littlefield, 1949-2009: For Big Collector of Tanks, Panzer Was Last Hurrah." Wall Street Journal, February 7, 2009.