Police confiscate WW2 tank hidden in cellar

[canuck98k]

http://www.thelocal.de/20150702/police-find-wwii-tank-hidden-in-cellar

Wish I had a cellar this cool!

 

[Miaugi]

If he didn't steal it then he should at least be compensated for it. I can understand that by today's standards this may be illegal however when he acquired it there were likely no laws broken.

 

[ipscgraz]

I wonder if the main gun and coaxial were still functional.

Edit:

NVM

But the villa owner's lawyer claimed that the tank could no longer fire its weapons and that he was therefore not breaking any law,

 

[Dyspnea]

Last line of the article is coming coming from the mayor "some people like steam trains, other like tanks"

The owner states the main gun was non functional.

 

[wbaad]

I hope he gets to keep it in the end. The mayor sounds like he sympathizes with the owner. Sad

 

[JimDO]

Nice toy... Says the owner was seen driving it around during some big snowstorm yrs ago,, how cool would that be.

 

[johnny1984]

Damn! Sets a whole new level for "man cave"!!!!

 

[Maple Leaf Pilgrim]

I think that's pretty disco.

-S.

 

[inthehizzy]

They better put'em in a museum, not chop'em up!

 

[sunray]

Must be nice to have a cellar big enough to hold a Panther tank. The woman had an 88 too.

 

[Grizzly Adams]

They better put'em in a museum, not chop'em up!

Panther in nice shape, rare as Hen's teeth i would think. German cops get excited about someone having ONE unauthorized rifle or hand gun round. Pretty sad state of affairs, I would call that a Police State.


Grizz

 

[inthehizzy]

I know! Looks like a mid-to-late model Panther G. Rare as all hell.

 

[homeboy1]

That tanks worth at least a half million USD. I hope it at least ends up in a proper museum and not in the smelter.

 

[bluesteel221]

There MUST be lots of goodies from ww ii that got hidden by grandpa. Not just the legal stuff.

 

[tacfoley]

That tanks worth at least a half million USD. I hope it at least ends up in a proper museum and not in the smelter.

Sir - you are out by a factor of at least ten. The late Jacques Littlefield's team poured around $3M of his limitless money into simply rebuilding his Panther, and here in UK, Mr Wheatcroft is well on the way to doing the same. Figure on around $5M for a running and factory-new Panther like this one appears to be, straight off the production line at Berlin's ALLKETT factory, un-camo painted and un-zimmerit'ed. However, since this is so far the ONLY example EVER found in this condition, I'm betting that it would be valued at even more than that.

tac

 

[nugunner]

How do you get it out? Ba restored Panther is worth a LOT of money.

 

[SA85M1]

There are but a few of them left in the world...I hope the owner gets to keep her...

 

[crash277]

I want a tank.

 

[Thringer]

cool old man for owning a tank and keeping it in the basement, the nazi art thing not so much.. imagine being the guy looking for nazi art and finding a tank..

 

[XRCD011]

At first I thought this was one of the 11 post war built Panthers as one of them ended up at Pounds yard, then "discovered" in 1977 (buried under other tanks and equipment no less) that in turn was sold and shipped to "a unnamed fellow in Germany (Flick??)" in the 1980s. An interesting story behind this "cellar find" tank no doubt when it all comes out in time. So if this was a 1943 produced Panther and the article says the owner drove it about in 1978 its most likely not the Pounds Panther, that or the press got their facts wrong.
Here is a list of Panthers

http://the.shadock.free.fr/Surviving_Panthers.pdf

And here are some pic of the UK Panther that went to Germany.

http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/showthread.php?t=548534