A Cold War-Era T-54 Main Battle Tank

This is a Cold War-era T-54 main battle tank that was built in the Soviet Union. It’s powered by a 39 liter diesel V12 mated to a 5-speed manual transmission, and it’s now being offered for sale out of Washington, Missouri.

These tanks were produced in vast numbers and they saw military service with armed forces in Asia, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and South America. Relatively few have ever made their way to the United States, and those that have attract significant interest.

Fast Facts: The T-54 Main Battle Tank

• The T-54 was developed in the immediate aftermath of World War II to replace the aging T-34 and address the threat posed by newer German tanks. Drawing from the interim T-44, it had a more powerful 100 mm gun, better armor, and improved survivability while remaining simple and mobile to suit Soviet battlefield doctrine.
• Initial T-54 variants faced significant design and reliability issues, prompting rapid upgrades. The T-54-2 and T-54-3 introduced new turrets and internal refinements, while the T-54A and T-54B added gun stabilization, telescopic sights, and night-fighting gear. The T-54B is often seen as the most advanced before the NBC-equipped T-55 took over.
• Over 86,000 T-54s were produced across the USSR, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and China, making it one of the most common tank designs of all time. It saw widespread use in conflicts from the Hungarian Uprising to the Arab-Israeli wars, Vietnam, and Afghanistan – often praised for durability but significantly outclassed by modern Western tanks.
• The example featured here is a Cold War-era Soviet T-54 powered by a 39 liter V12 diesel and a 5-speed manual gearbox. It retains its 100 mm gun (de-milled), external fuel drums, and Soviet markings. It’s now located in Missouri, it’s offered for sale as a rare collector’s item with recent servicing completed.

History Speedrun: The T-54 Main Battle Tank

The T-54 main battle tank was born out of the Soviet Union’s drive to modernize its armored forces in the aftermath of World War II. The T-34 had been instrumental in Soviet success on the Eastern Front and it had been more than a match for early German tanks like the Panzer III and early Panzer IV. Later in the conflict it was being out-gunned by newer German heavy armor like the Tiger and Panther.

Above Video: This half hour-long episode of Tank Chats from The Tank Museum goes into a deep delve into the history of the T54 and T55.

Soviet engineers began experimenting with improvements based on the interim T-44, which itself had attempted to refine the T-34’s layout by moving the engine and removing the hull machine gunner. The goal was to create a tank with improved armor, a more powerful main gun, and better survivability – while retaining the simplicity and mobility that defined Soviet armored doctrine.

The first prototype of the T-54 was completed by the end of 1945. Initial production began in 1946, after the end of WWII, with the T-54-1 model, which had a dome-shaped turret and 100 mm D-10T main gun which was significantly more powerful than the T-34’s 85 mm weapon.

Early models had a number of design flaws, including poor turret ergonomics and a series of reliability issues. These led to quick revisions, resulting in the T-54-2 in 1949 and T-54-3 in 1951. Each iteration refined the layout somewhat, including a flatter “pig snout” turret and new gun-stabilization systems.

By the mid-1950s, the T-54A was introduced with a single-axis gun-stabilizer, new telescopic sights, and the OPVT snorkel system for deep fording. The T-54B followed in 1957, now with a dual-axis gun-stabilizer and night-fighting infrared systems.

In many ways, the T-54B marked the peak of the T-54 line before the transition to the upgraded T-55 series. Though the T-55 shares its foundation with the T-54, it introduced a key improvement – NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical) protection, made more urgent by the development of tactical nuclear weapons during the Cold War.

Production numbers for the T-54 are estimated at over 86,000 examples, making it one of the most produced tank designs in history. Including its closely-related successor, the T-55, the total climbs to over 100,000 tanks.

Manufacturing took place not just in the USSR but also under license in Czechoslovakia, Poland, and China – where it became the basis for the Type 59. Despite being classified as a medium tank by Western standards, the T-54 was the de facto main battle tank in Soviet doctrine before the concept of an MBT had fully evolved.

Above Video: This is a video of the tank shown in this article, it discusses the tank’s history and specifications, and they show it driving over a rusted out notchback Mustang.

The T-54 saw action in nearly every major Cold War-era conflict. It was used in the 1956 Hungarian Uprising, the 1967 and 1973 Arab-Israeli wars, the Vietnam War, the Iran-Iraq War, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and in various African conflicts. The tank was widely liked by its operators for its simplicity and its solid construction – but it did suffer heavy losses against more modern Western tanks.

The T-54 typically used a V-54 12 cylinder diesel engine producing 520 bhp. It had a top speed of 50 km/h and a range of approximately 325 kilometers on internal fuel, extendable with external fuel drums mounted on the rear.

Armament included the 100 mm D-10T rifled gun, capable of firing HE, HEAT, and AP rounds, along with a 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun and a 12.7 mm DShK anti-aircraft machine gun mounted on the turret roof (in later models). Armor thickness varied, with up to 120 mm on the turret front and 80 mm on the sides.

Despite the fact that it was largely obsolete by the 1980s, the T-54 continued to appear in some conflicts, often in heavily upgraded form. Even today it remains in operation with a number of militaries around the world, from Afghanistan and Cambodia to Lebanon and North Korea.

The T-54 Main Battle Tank Shown Here

The tank you see here is an original Soviet T-54 main battle tank, and it has a (de-milled) 100mm gun as well as a double-barrel machine gun, and top-mounted storage lockers, fuel tanks, and rear fuel drums for additional range.

As you would expect, it’s powered by a 39 liter diesel V12 that sends power to the tracks via a 5-speed manual transmission with both synchromesh and a reverse gear. It has reportedly had a fluid service performed within the past 20 hours of runtime, and it’s finished in army green with Soviet markings.

It’s now being offered for sale out of Washington, Missouri, on a bill of sale as one of the most unusual pieces of Cold War era memorabilia currently for sale in the United States. If you’d like to read more about it or place a bid you can visit the listing here.

Images courtesy of Bring a Trailer