Andy,
>My guess is that the photographs show _A_ MkIII Panzer; not necessarily
>_THE_ MkIII Panzer,
No, I'm pretty sure that is "the" PzIII
>as the text states that the tank advertised sports some
>sort of replica machine-gun to replace the destroyed original, yet none is
>visible in any of the pictures.
Main gun, not machine gun :-) The main gun was destroyed when the tank
was knocked out so they made a replica.
> Also, there's what appears to be a 17 pdr.
>in the background, leading me to believe that the vendor just snapped a pic
>of some Mk. III during one of his visits to a museum somewhere, and decided
>to use them to indicate what the tank in question *could* look like given
>enough dollars and TLC.
Judging by the architecture and foliage, not to mention a decent
knowledge of German tanks on display in "Western" countries, I would say
that these photos were indeed taken in the Ukraine. My guess is that the
PzIII, which is obviously on static display, is being put up for sale to
raise money. Looks to be in fairly good condition, except for what
appears to be two broken torsion bars on the left side. $100,000 for
this highly rare vehicle (not running and damage included) is a decent
price. The cost of moving it out of the Ukraine will be rather steep!
>I also harbour my doubts about the viability of any enterprise originating
>in the Ukraine - Georgia phone numbers notwithstanding - so caveat emptor.
Judging by the seller's "ebay store", he is a camera dealer specializing
in stuff from the Ukraine and elsewhere. My guess is that this fellow is
acting as an agent. Makes sense since a likely buyer for something like
this would probably be in the US or the UK. Of course it could be a
hoax, but I'm inclined to think this one is legit (and I am the skeptical
type <g>).
Steve
P.S. My friend in Germany couldn't view this page. It was blocked by
ebay to comply with German law. Knowing a thing or two about these sorts
of German laws, I think ebay is just being paranoid. Someone in Germany
couldn't order such a vehicle, but I have never heard about a law against
looking at the menu :-)
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sun Sep 02 2001 - 11:15:37 PDT