SF Gate – by John CotéBillionaire Microsoft co-founder and Seattle Seahawks owner Paul Allen apparently doesn’t get everything he wants – at least not yet.
A Soviet Scud surface-to-surface missile was a no-problem purchase for him at $349,000. A rusty and inoperable Cold War-era M55 self-propelled howitzer was a comparable bargain at $45,000.
But when it came to an authentic Panzer IV, a World War II-era German tank, Allen, an avid collector of historical military planes and other equipment, has had to go to court in Redwood City, even after paying $2.5 million for it.
One of Allen’s companies, Vulcan Warbirds, filed suit Wednesday in San Mateo County Superior Court alleging breach of contract and other violations after it paid $2.5 million for the rare tank in July and the owner subsequently refused to turn it over.
The kicker: The would-be seller not only still has the tank, but also Allen’s $2.5 million.
Restraining order
The court issued a temporary restraining order to stop the prized Panzer from being moved from a Portola Valley showroom in rural San Mateo County after Allen’s lawyer warned that the owner, the Collings Foundation, could ship it out of state to its headquarters in Stow, Mass., court records show.
Officials at the Collings Foundation, which was created to promote “living history” events and has a collection of historical military planes, did not return calls or an e-mail seeking comment.
The tank is one of only 38 complete Panzer IVs in the world and one of five in the United States, according to Vulcan Warbirds’ court filing. It was built in 1944. After World War II, it went to then-Czechoslovakia. Later it was sent to Syria and used in the Six-Day War of 1967, during which it was captured by the Israelis.
It was part of a vast fleet of military hardware compiled by the late Hewlett-Packard computer engineer Jacques Littlefield, considered one of the finest collections of its type in the world. Littlefield’s trove, which at its peak included more than 240 vehicles, was mostly housed in four nearly football field-size buildings at the Portola Valley compound.
After Littlefield’s death in 2009, ownership of his collection was transferred to the Collings Foundation, which has an aviation museum, vintage automobile collection, and hosts World War II battle re-enactments.
The foundation then decided to sell off certain vehicles, including the Panzer IV, in a July auction run by Auctions America, an affiliate of RM Auctions. Both companies are named as defendants in the lawsuit.
A Vulcan Warbirds’ representative, Deborah Gunn, bid $1.5 million on the tank during the auction on July 12 but didn’t match a second bid of $1.75 million, according to the court filing. The tank went unsold at auction when the minimum price wasn’t met.
Shortly after the auction, Gunn approached an auction company employee, Megan Boyd, about buying the tank.
The Panzer was to join other military equipment in a new space at the Flying Heritage Collection aviation museum in Everett, Wash., which Allen founded and owns.
The museum recently opened a 26,000-square-foot “tank arena,” according to court filings. The expansion provides a space “where the public can see these incredible machines in action,” Vulcan Warbirds said in a statement.
Boyd offered the Panzer IV for $2.5 million, according to a July 18 e-mail included in the lawsuit. A bill of sale was drawn up for the tank, and it was included in $4.2 million worth of Vulcan Warbirds’ purchases from the Littlefield collection, like the Scud missile, paid for by wire transfer on July 25, court documents show.
Almost a month later, Rob Collings, the CEO of the Collings Foundation, allegedly said he would honor the sale if the foundation was able to find a replacement tank.
Tank in limbo
After days of back and forth, the tank was never turned over to Vulcan Warbirds for transport, according to the lawsuit.
Staff at two Auctions America offices declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Attorneys for Vulcan Warbirds also would not comment. The company issued a statement saying “Auctions America has failed to honor our agreement, and … we sued it and the Collings Foundation, the former owner of the tank, to enforce our contract.”
John Coté is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: jcote@sfchronicle.comTwitter: @johnwcote
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Paul-Allen-sues-over-German-tank-purchase-gone-bad-5749592.php