The U.S. M3A1 Stuart light tank is easily one of the most well known and iconic tanks of World War II, and offered here is a nice example that runs like a sewing machine! A reported 4,621 M3A1 Stuarts were manufactured in total by American Car & Foundry Company (ACF) starting in May 1942, with the last M3A1 delivered in February 1943; of approximately 22,750 total Stuart tanks including combined production numbers of the M3 and M5 variants. Surviving M3A1 Stuarts left today are a very small fraction of that production total, with the few remaining examples residing in museum collections. Rock Island Auction Company is honored to be able to have the opportunity to offer this rare and immensely desirable U.S. M3A1 Stuart light tank for public sale. The quick fall of France at the beginning of the war, due to inadequate tactics, led the U.S. Army Corps to consider implementing new doctrine, which led to an independent U.S. armored force that had a main duty of scouting and screening. Production of the M3 Stuart light tank, an improvement on the developmental M2 series, commenced in March 1941 was undertaken by the American Car & Foundry Company (ACF), with Cadillac and Massey-Harris also subsequently manufacturing Stuarts. The main variants of Stuart tanks used in service included the M3, M3A1, M3A3 and M5. M3 Stuart light tanks were initially deployed with the U.S. Army in the Philippines in September 1941, with early tank versus tank combat occurring on December 22, 1941 between five outnumbered Stuart tanks that put up a valiant fight against the Imperial Japanese Army Type 95 Ha-Go light tanks. The improved M3A1 Stuarts saw their first major campaign with U.S. troops in the North African invasion Operation Torch in November 1942. Besides their known use by U.S. forces, Stuart Light Tanks were largely distributed to the British and Commonwealth forces as well as Soviet Russia through the Lend-Lease program, with the official designation "Stuart" originally given to them by the British in reference to Civil War Confederate general J.E.B. Stuart, also earning the nickname "Honey" due to their smooth ride. M3 Stuarts saw some of their earliest combat use in the hands of the British Eighth Army during Operation Crusader in the North Africa Campaign between mid-November 1941 to December 30, 1941. Stuarts, with their 37mm main guns and .30 caliber Browning Machine Guns, were found to be effective against some of the light armored vehicles and Italian tanks, but were vulnerable to the larger artillery of the German tanks encountered, although Stuarts had similar armor and speed when compared with the Panzer III and were still able to penetrate the front armor of one from beyond 1,000 meters. With their limitations in mind, Stuart tanks were still able to be used effectively, in which they performed reasonably well against Rommels forces due to their speed and reliability, with capability of about 30 mph in an offroad setting and 36 mph on road. Many Stuart tanks were relocated to the Far East, India, largely employed in the Pacific in which they were effectively used in the jungles against the Japanese tanks, and also in the European theater alongside the larger U.S. M4 and M4A1 Sherman medium tanks as screening and scouting armored wings. Most U.S. tank battalions had three companies of Sherman tanks and one company of Stuarts. Towards the later part of the war, the U.S. intended to replace the Stuarts then in service with the M24 Chaffee light tank introduced at the end of 1944, although the Stuart ended up remaining in active service through the end of World War II. After World War II, some countries equipped their armies with surplus Stuarts, in which they continued to see later use. The M3A1 Stuart light tank, as offered here, is an improvement on the M3 before it, now featuring an internal "turret basket" in which the crew rotates with the turret, removal of a cupola, removal of sponson machine guns on either side of the hull, a taller mounting point up top for use with a M1919A4 Browning Machine Gun on a M20 anti-aircraft mount (not included), and a new main gun vertical stabilizer. Power is supplied by a Continental W-670-A9 radial 7-cylinder air-cooled gasoline engine outputting approximately 250 hp. The M3A1 features three mounting points for Browning Machine Guns (not included). This example is green in color and has a hand painted "3" in a style used by the Marine Corps in World War II in a white box on both front sides of the turret. Provenance: The Allan Cors Collection