I cant recall this one being posted before, but its been ages since we had a Centurion thread, so what the hell...
http://www.centurion-mbt.com/

Facinating to see how many of these tanks have survived in Oz. Wonder if the Leopard1 will be as popular on the second hand market?

They have survived I understand because they were bought as one job lot by one collector who then sold them on, thereby ensuring that they were bought by those who would appreciate the vehicles.

Is there any figures on how many of the 150 odd vehicles actually survived?

Stu
Excellent site good find, but very addictive

Yes I know what you mean Bob.

The site you linked to originally is run by a bloke, Col Filtness I think. Here he reckons he's located 142 out of 144. However, it's a bit hard to find a specific page on his site there is a complete break down by ARN somewhere, that number includes about 20 that went to the range and were somewhat dismantled, and about a dozen that went to the US to be vismodded as M1s for Courge Under Fire and I think they also turned up in Hulk.

Ah, here we are bottom of page 5.

A rough breakdown depending on how you class them:
Range Targets (destroyed) 13
Scrapped 12
Memorial (RSL, public parks, AWM etc) 12
Private hands (runners and non runners) 56
Military (Gate guards, army museums) 32
Drilling rigs 4
Exported (USA, NZ) 15

Total 144 (including both 169080s)

Thats a pretty remarkable number of survivors! Its a pity none of them have come back to the Uk. It would be nice to see one of the Vietnam Veterans displayed at Bovington.

Have all the Leopard1s been cut?

BTW, I meant to mention, there is a really good book called 'Military Briefs No 3, Australian Centurions in Vietnam by Shane Lovell. its only 76 pages long and primarily directed at the modelmaker (and presumably the AFV model Aussie Centurion 5/1), but it gives a good breakdown on the numbers of all the Vietnam serving examples , and some of the photos, whilst predominantly in b/w, are really very useful. A useful addition to the relatively few tomes out on Centurion anyway.

I thought you would have had enough of your own Cents left around the place. There was 1 or 2 at the Melbourne Tank Museum that got sold along with everything else, and the Sentinel went over seas, as did a few other vehicles including a Churchill that I think went back to the UK, so you never know.

Regarding the Leos I have no idea, in this modern litigious world I doubt any government would want to take the heat over a headline like "German Tank Squashes Cops!" if a nutter got into one. Like that guy with a hatred of mobile phone towers did with that FV432 in Perth or where ever. There were about 20 or so Leos up for grabs to RSL clubs and the like but those ones had been thoroughly de-milled, no engines or anything so definitely not as a runner. The rest must just be parked somewhere pending a decision I guess. I'd love to have one though

Cs you can never have too many Centurions. Most of the privately owned ones ive seen in the Uk (of which there isnt that many, they seem largely dwarfed by the Chieftain population) seem to have either been converted to 105mm, or even 165mm armed AVREs. There doesnt seem to be that many Vickers built 20prs left. Probably makes sense, most got converted, and a fair number of the rest went to Israel in the 1960s. I was hoping some of the Danish ones would make it back, but I recall reading somewhere that only a handful of those escaped the gas axe.

Looks like the last great bastion of Centurion ownership is Australia, which strikes me as one more great reason to emigrate.

Re Leopards, there was a privately owned 1A1A5 that appeared at Beltring a few times, and was always a spirited performer. Again, most of the European nations seemed to have chopped most of theirs.

I suppose that makes sense, most UK ones would have been upgraded to 105mm, the Aussie ones must be some of the last 20pdr armed tanks left. Regarding the MB3 it does indeed come in handy, although it pre-dates the AFV Club kit, this is the older Tamiya/Modelcraft kit with a little bit of work done to it, shortly after the AFV Club kit was released.

But for the moment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK8TJFMs51c Enjoy, it has Centurions.

There has been rumours for decades that Singapore has Centurions since the 70's.

It has never been confirmed or denied by the government.

I hope the truth will come to light before I die.

Nice model. ive a horrid feeling mine isnt going to look a bit as good when finished.

Thanks for the youtube link. If I squint a bit I can almost imagine its my beloved BAOR....

Thanks, but don't put yourself down and be sure to post some pics when you are done. Actually come to think of it I still haven't got around to loading mine up with jerry cans and boxes and all the other junk the Australian Cents typically carried around.

BAOR tanks? with all that tropical vegetation. That must be quite a squint you've got there!

YouTube - Centurion tank 169039 Australian Army in Vietnam 1970-71