M3 Lee Tank "Lulubelle"

[DanielJones]

I was watching '1941' the other night and wanted to find some screen captures of the M3 Lee tank that they had in the movie. I wanted these images because I'm going to build a little diorama of that tank & the Christmas street scene complete with the lamp post Santas. Anyway, I was Googling "M3 Lee Lulubelle" and to my amazment I discovered that an M3 with the same name on it was also in Bogart's "Sahara".
I was wondering if it was the same tank in both films or did Spielberg do a homage to the tank in Sahara. Would any one of the film or WWII buffs here know the story behind this? Thank you!

Cheers!

Dan

 

[The Wolf]

I have the collector's magazine about "1941" from when it was at the cinema. It mentioned that Spielberg specifally wanted an M3 Lee tank but couldn't get his hands on one for the movie so he a repro made on another tanks chassis. I'll have to find the magazine and see if I can find more info for you.

Sincerely,
The Wolf

 

[DanielJones]

Cool! Thanks Wolf!! That should be a fairly interesting article.

Cheers!

Dan

 

[BigSleep]

He named it that to pay homage to the earlier film.

 

[The Wingnut]

From dvdtalk.com:

Meanwhile, back in the fullsize world, vehicle expert Pat Carman found a self-propelled gun with the same basic chassis as the extinct M3 Lee, being used for gunnery practice on an Air Force target range. Its purchase was completed but the time factor for delivery had some red tape snafus, so together with Ken Swenson and some cooperative servicemen, Carman 'legally' smuggled the tank from its desert base in an operation worthy of the Impossible Mission Forces. Within weeks Pat had a new diesel engine in the beast, and with a plywood facelift it became the fullsized 'Lulubelle' tank named after Humphrey Bogart's honey in Sahara. Later, it was Pat himself who manned the tank with pinpoint accuracy when it crushed cars and drove into the midst of hundreds of rioting extras. Weirdly, in an unreported late-night incident, someone used the tank to crush a number of vehicles parked on the TBS lot in Burbank!

 

[DanielJones]

Now that's cool! Thanks! We just watched it again, and boy what a load of fun!
I suppose I'm going to have to look closer the next time I watch it to see the blue serial numbers on the rear panels of the tank. I have my Pops old letter stamping kit from when he worked for Western Electric. I should be able to stencil the "LULUBELLE" name on the model. The tricky thing will be finding some sort of ornament that is close in shape & scale to the lamp post Santa & maybe sculpt my own Uncle Sam Santa. This should be a fun diorama.

Thanks a load for the input gang, it is most appreciated! :eusa_clap

Cheers!

Dan

 

[Story]

I can remember seeing a long-running ad for this vehicle throughout the 90's, for something like $17,000. The seller was based in Utah, IIRC.

 

[dostacos]

the basic lower hull is the same on the M3 and M4 early Sherman as well as the M7 Priest [motorized howitzer].

The Ram was a Canadian tank that also had a lower hull similar boggies and front three piece bolted front plate.

The British used an M3 with a lower turret and called it a GRANT

 

[dr greg]

tanks for that

it must be somethin about them tank restorers
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/tank-versus-towers/2007/07/14/1183833835452.html

 

[Story]

it must be somethin about them tank restorers
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/tank-versus-towers/2007/07/14/1183833835452.html

I'll see your miscreant and raise you three, Herr Doktor.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22947083-38200,00.html

Three arrested for stealing World War II tank
From correspondents in Sofia
December 18, 2007 11:20pm
Agence France-Presse

POLICE in Bulgaria arrested two Germans and a Bulgarian army officer for stealing a World War II tank and attempting to thieve another.

Bulgaria's defence ministry said the first tank disappeared between October and December 13 and is still missing, while the second one only had a few parts stolen from it.

Investigators suspect the armoured vehicle or its parts may have been smuggled to Germany.

According to the Standard newspaper, the three suspects wanted to sell the Maybach tanks to German collectors.

The vehicles had laid half buried since World War II near Bulgaria's southeastern border with Turkey.