T-34-85 price and availability?

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ChaseR83
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T-34-85 price and availability?

Post by ChaseR83 » Sun May 06, 2018 11:53 am

Hey guys,

In my quest to find an armor project I have started to look at foreign vehicles and not just US built armor. I'm a fan a British armor but WW2 vintage stuff is simply too rare and I don't fit, regardless of the relatively reasonable cost (for armor).

I've also started looking at Russian armor as people always saying importing Russian armor the US is easy compared to US built stuff, and is again relatively inexepensive. I doubt I can squeeze myself into a T55, and the later tanks are too large to fit through our shop door.

This leaves the T-34, or more specifically the T-34-85 since I know that the earlier 76mm tanks are much rarer.

The T-34-85 fits through our shop doors with room too spare, is fairly light for a medium tank, and seems to be rather simple to work on and repair.

I've read through lots of old posts on various forums people seem to refer to them as "cheap and plentiful". Ten years ago somebody said they were going as cheap as 10k, a few years ago 20-40k, but I can't find any good current pricing. I'm sure they have gone up like everything else. They don't seem to be "plentiful" either, we can talk about Shermans being rare all day, but their are half a dozen for sale online right now if you have a heavy enough wallet.

I saw a website for a company called Mortar Investments selling T-34s with prices "starting" at 83k USD... but that appears to be a tank that has already been refurbished... I'd much rather have a project. I've been around long enough to know that anything that is 70 years old that looks "like new" is too good to be true. I'd much rather buy a project that I know needs to be completely gone through rather than a field tank that was barely coaxed into running with a quick re-spray inside and out.

I found very little info on the company online.... none of it was positive, and one person said (in 2017) that they were getting ready to close.

How are spares for a T-34? For a tank built in such huge quantities I don't really see anything online as far a spare parts vendors, where as a simple google search for "Sherman tank parts" brings up a dozen vendors both in the US and Europe.

Do we have any T-34 owners on the site? If so I'd love to hear your personal impressions of the tank.

Thanks


clintm20
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Re: T-34-85 price and availability?

Post by clintm20 » Mon May 07, 2018 5:10 am

There is a gent on the Steel Soldiers website (Tank Section of the forum) that owns a lot of Russian armor he might be able to answer your questions. I think his handle is Augdog or something close to that.
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MP45
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Re: T-34-85 price and availability?

Post by MP45 » Mon May 07, 2018 9:04 am

I seem to recall a T-34 just selling a few months ago at the Julia's or Amoskeag Auction for around 30-40K.

ChaseR83
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Re: T-34-85 price and availability?

Post by ChaseR83 » Mon May 07, 2018 3:47 pm

MP45 wrote:
Mon May 07, 2018 9:04 am
I seem to recall a T-34 just selling a few months ago at the Julia's or Amoskeag Auction for around 30-40K.
Julia Auction (wouldn't have found with your help :D ), sold for 46k.

Here is the link for others: https://jamesdjulia.com/item/52675-2-397/

I think I'd be all over one in this condition (and level of complete-ness) at that price.

Nowadays 40k is "walkin around money" in the tank world.

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Re: T-34-85 price and availability?

Post by jdmcm » Mon May 07, 2018 8:22 pm

That one went to Colorado along with the T55. 46k was a steal in my opinion for that tank. There are several for sale in the UK but they start at about 45k British pounds. Russian Military Vehicle Co. In the UK has a T34/85 that spent the last twenty years in the Imperial War Museum, amazing shape and very complete...might be worth a look
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ChaseR83
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Re: T-34-85 price and availability?

Post by ChaseR83 » Tue May 08, 2018 9:14 am

jdmcm wrote:
Mon May 07, 2018 8:22 pm
That one went to Colorado along with the T55. 46k was a steal in my opinion for that tank. There are several for sale in the UK but they start at about 45k British pounds. Russian Military Vehicle Co. In the UK has a T34/85 that spent the last twenty years in the Imperial War Museum, amazing shape and very complete...might be worth a look
I assume you mean this one? http://www.russianmilitary.co.uk/detail ... KED&id=244

I found the add quite amusing... sounds like it was written by a used car salesman. Comparing T-34 values to Bitcoin... I wonder if he meant "exponential growth" or "highly volatile, likely to crash at any moment" :lol: .... Regardless I get the feeling they are fishing for top dollar... and IMO, that tank isn't really that "nice". Very complete, yes, excellent starting point, yes, but I highly doubt one will be able to hop in and start tearing up a field. I hate adds with no price... makes it difficult to get a feel for "current going rate", and I feel it is really just "soliciting auction bids".

I am very wary of "museum restorations"... some are very nice, but I seen some that are terrible, even on rare vehicles. Despite being stored indoors, that T-34 has rust blooming all over the exterior, rust in the interior, etc. Note the rusty DT drums in the ammo racks... I doubt they have ever been removed since that tank languished in some Eastern Bloc depot. That leads me to believe that the tank was given a quick exterior re-spray (over rust) and put on display without any attention to the mechanicals... and is likely no closer to running and driving reliably than the Julia auction field tank.

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Re: T-34-85 price and availability?

Post by nirvana » Wed May 09, 2018 7:03 am

I know the tank market is a complicated one, and sometimes sellers have you over a barrel, but when someone says "make an offer" I tend to walk away. Its a game, and I'm not motivated to play games with people when they are trying to get my money from my wallet.

I like that the videos that they posted of a T-34 running are actually videos of other tanks. :shock:


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