First American Tank ?

Looks like something straight out of an H.G.Wells or Jules Verne novel. However it was real vehicle build in 1916 by C.L. Best Tractor Company of San Francisco. The CLB 75 is based on the chassis of a CLB 75hp ‘Tracklayer’/’Autotractor’. It had a sheet metal outer-skin and a rounded turret. The tank has a set of tracks and a front steering wheel. The CLB 75 appears to be bristling with a pair of cannons and at least two machine guns in the turret. However all it was fake : guns were not real and armour was just sheet metal.
It was very slow : 2,5 km /h and not practical - two chimney on the front were making such smoke that driver had no chances to see the road. The CLB 75 was what is often described as a ‘parade tank’ . It was seen leading parades into at least May 1917 in California. There, displaying posters, it was used to help recruit young men and women for the war effort, as the United States had entered the war at the start of April. Its appearance in April exercises and then parades provided some reassurance to both the men being sent to fight and presumably their families, that the USA was not going to go to war without its own tanks. However as we know USA went to war without any tanks.
Very simple 3d model created by me in Blender.