This model represents the Holt Gas-Electric tank, the first tank prototype built in the United States during World War I. Developed by the Holt Manufacturing Company—best known at the time for agricultural tractors and later to become part of Caterpillar—the design was an early attempt to adapt American industrial know-how to the new realities of mechanized warfare.
Rather than starting from a clean-sheet armored vehicle design, Holt engineers based the tank on a heavy tractor chassis. The vehicle used an experimental gas-electric drive system, in which a gasoline engine powered an electric generator that, in turn, drove electric motors connected to the tracks. While innovative, the system proved complex, heavy, and unreliable under field conditions. Despite producing approximately 90 horsepower, the tank struggled to move its 25-ton weight efficiently.
During U.S. Army trials, the Holt Gas-Electric demonstrated the challenges facing early American tank development: overheating, mechanical failures, poor mobility, and limited tactical usefulness. As a result, the vehicle was rejected, and the United States instead turned to licensed British and French designs while developing its own doctrine and engineering expertise.
Although it never entered service, the Holt Gas-Electric occupies a crucial place in armored history. It represents the United States’ first serious step toward indigenous tank design and highlights the trial-and-error process that all early tank-producing nations experienced during the Great War.
This is a 1/35 scale resin model, capturing the utilitarian, riveted construction and exposed mechanical features of the prototype. The finish reflects its experimental nature rather than a combat-deployed vehicle, emphasizing its role as a technological stepping stone rather than a battlefield machine.
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