Texas Millionaire Buys WWII-era Tank and Parks It Outside His Mansion, Angering Locals

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A self-made millionaire has become notorious in his Houston, Texas, neighborhood for purchasing a functional World War II Sherman M4A4 tank and parking it in the street in front of his mansion.

Attorney, property owner, and Marine veteran Tony Buzbee told Fox News that he purchased the tank, adorned with the name “Cheyenne” from its previous owner, in France in 2016. His local housing association took issue with Buzbee’s $600,000 armored purchase; however, Buzbee wouldn’t budge.

“Took a year to get here but now it’s on River Oaks Boulevard,” he told KHOU. “This particular tank landed at Normandy. It liberated Paris and ultimately went all the way to Berlin. There’s a lot of history here.”

The River Oaks Property Owners committee didn’t necessarily agree that so much history should belong in their neighborhood. Buzbee received a letter of complaint citing traffic and safety violations, to which the attorney replied: “They can ticket it or they can try to tow it, but the truth is unless I decide to move it, it’s not going anywhere.”

According to Popular Mechanics, the 51-year-old millionaire’s tank was believed to have belonged to the U.S. Army’s 2nd Armored Division. The 33-ton vehicle’s weapons are no longer operational.

Buzbee had at least one local homeowner on his side; Ken Douglas told KHOU he thought that the tank was “great for America.”

“I wish it was permanent,” Douglas explained. “I think it’s an asset, and I think if you watch the cars come up and slow down, you say to yourself, ‘Wow, that’s America.’”

History enthusiasts and people from the local area were also seen driving past on a regular basis, pulling over, and lingering by the tank to admire the vehicle and snap selfies.

Technically, Buzbee wasn’t breaking any laws by parking the decommissioned military vehicle outside his property. However, in October of 2017, one year after Buzbee first purchased the tank, the millionaire’s housing association got the resolution they had been waiting for.

Buzbee moved “Cheyenne” to his ranch near Texarkana.

“I wanted to have it up there so we could drive it around and run over stuff with [it],” Buzbee explained to Texas Monthly. “Will I be driving around pastures shooting up the place? Probably not. But I am definitely, probably, gonna be running over some old small cars, dumb stuff like that.”

Explaining that owning a tank represented the fulfillment of a childhood dream, Buzbee continued:

“As a child, you played army, you have your little Tonka tanks, and you run over trucks, when I found out it was coming up for auction I told one of my guys, ‘Hey, let’s get that tank! It’d be really cool to run over things and blow things up!’”

In November 2018, a brand-new chapter began in the saga of the River Oaks tank; Buzbee decided to donate the WWII tank to the Texas A&M Foundation. He also announced that he was running for mayor of Houston.

“This place launched me,” Buzbee told KPRC 2, speaking of Texas A&M at the time of his donation. “This will always be a special place in my heart. In a time in which we’re so divided in this country, this certainly reminds us of a time when we were united.”

Buzbee gave Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner a run for his money in the November 2019 mayoral elections, ultimately necessitating a runoff in December. Turner won his re-election with 56 to 44 percent of the votes in his favor.

Buzbee remains dedicated to local politics. He will also go down in local history as probably the only self-made millionaire with a WWII-era tank parked outside his home.