The tank you are looking at is an Alvis Stormer high-velocity missile tank. If you find this image imposing, then you are wise. The Alvis Stormer utilizes a short-range surface-to-air missile system to attack helicopters and other low-flying crafts. And here is an Alvis Stormer HMV tank that is for sale and surprisingly road-legal. Hold on. *checks notes* That can’t be right.

Can you buy a tank? 

It may not be the best idea, but you can buy certain decommissioned tanks, as long as the weapons systems are inoperable. Despite the remaining hardware, this Alvis Stormer’s Starstreak HVM (high-velocity missile) system has been permanently deactivated. I think we can probably agree that that is for the best – 9-year-old me, however, is pissed. 

While there are multiple decommissioned military vehicles that people can buy, this Alvis is one of the most intense and menacing-looking machines we’ve seen. 

What is an Alvis Stormer high-velocity missile tank? 

The Startstreak HVM is a tank, but its main purpose was a mobile air-defense system. According to Silodrome, not only could this tank do battle with low-flying craft on the move, but the munitions – of which there could be eight chambered and another 12 in the cabin – were easily carried by troops. These missiles could even be shoulder-launched if need be. 

If this mobile air defense tank wasn’t categorically deadly enough on its own, the HVM, once airborne, could travel as fast as Mach 4. Hitting those speeds makes them the fastest short-range surface-to-air missile in the world. 

At the risk of sounding like a skipping record, making it even deadlier still, once close to its target, the Starstreak launched three laser beam-riding warheads, tripling the chance of a successful impact.

The HVM is manned by three, with the operational range being 400 miles. This air-defense tank’s top speed is 50 mph, drawing power from a turbocharged Perkins 6.0-liter six-cylinder diesel engine making 250 hp.

How much does it cost to buy a tank? 

Silodrome discovered this specific Alvis Stormer HVM on the auction block at Collecting Cars. The listing says this tank is ex-British Army equipment that was first made road-legal in 2012. 

For a vehicle like this to become a registered vehicle, the missile system must be made non-functional. You can see from the photos that the barrels were crimped, making launching or even holding missiles impossible. Struts also appear to be welded inside the chambers, cementing the system as fully offline. 

The machine is located in Northamptonshire in the United Kingdom, which is currently plated and road-legal. For more photos and details, make sure to visit the Collecting Cars site for the listing. As of this writing, bidding is still open.