Posted on 02/08/2008 3:32:14 PM PST by Grzegorz 246
Bulgaria' s army has started to dig out its vintage tanks produced by Maybach, in order to protect them from robberies.
Army officials reported that a number of Panzer IV tanks, equipped with Maybach engines and previously buried near the southern Bulgarian border as stationary guns, have already been dug out and transported to a secure military base.
All tanks will be in a safe place before the end of February but it is still unclear what their future will be, the army said.
According to experts, there are few tanks of the same type in the world still outside the military museums and robbers could make a good profit by selling parts of the machines to collectioners.
In November, Bulgaria's police arrested two German nationals and a Bulgarian army major over stealing and exporting abroad a whole Panzer IV tank and attempting to do the same with a second one.
In January , police launched another investigation over a stolen turret of a third vintage tank.
I had read that it was the Maybach automatic transmission which greatly improved tank manueverability.
Maybach was an auto manufacturer too, tho.
http://www.achtungpanzer.com/pz3.htm#panzer4
Those vehicles are worth ALOT of money these days.
Restoring them is a millionaires hobby. A very expensive hobby.
A rather Spartan means of conveyance, no?
I’m waiting for a bargain on this baby: http://www.achtungpanzer.com/tiger.htm
I had the 1/24th scale model as a kid - still haven’t made it to Aberdeen or the IWM to see a real one.
Why doesn’t Bulgaria sell these and replace them with T-54 or T-55s?
When you can’t afford the gas or maintenance, I guess an artillery piece is what they become.
Still are, although the brand is now owned by Daimler:
Expect to pay almost half a million, almost $700K if you want it armored with all the options.
Want to the old Mark IV in action? http://www.stage6.com/WORLD-WAR-TWO-HISTORY-WAR/video/1986490/Panzer-IV-Heavy-Tank
As late as the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, the Syrians were still operating some PzIV’s. Oddly enough, the Israelis were using some Shermans up-gunned with some 90mm’s.
I would not mind having one for home defense :)
“What’s the point of stationary guns in the 21st century?”
Target practice.
“Maybach was an auto manufacturer too, tho.”
Maybach was the manufacturer of great classic cars before World War II. They also built engines for some of Count Zeppelin’s creations. I didn’t know they built Panzer tanks.
The Maybach “Zeppelin” automobile was powered by a V-12 engine, which is probably the ancestor of this one. The car engine was eight liters and put out 200 HP.
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