Re: [MV] Replica vehicles

From: Steve Grammont (islander@midmaine.com)
Date: Thu Feb 06 2003 - 23:55:58 PST


Hi Joe,

>3. Can you bring a "fake" to shows and have it sit next to the real thing?
>How would the MVPA feel about that?

I can say "yes" and list three examples:

a) The Saving Private Ryan "Tiger" made from a T-34 as shown at Beltring
and other places
b) Czech OT-810s remade to look like various wartime SPW 251(D) models
c) Swiss G-12 (or whatever they are called) remade to look like wartime Hetzer

I am sure there are more examples. The first one is obviously a novelty
to substitute for something rarer than hen's teeth. The second two are
NEARLY "the real thing" to begin with, so those aren't a big of a leap as
say making a Dingo out of a M-37. But from a "show" standpoint, they are
technically in the same classification IMHO. Taking a post WWII vehicle
made to different specifications by a country other than its original
makers and sold to another country which never used the originals can
never, ever be considered "the real deal". It doesn't matter how great
the restoration work. This distinguishes itself from something like a
retrofitting a wartime production StuG III sold to the Finns or Pz IV
sold to the Syrians back to their original WWII German look (I know of
several of these in museums).

Mind you... I would love to own a Swiss "Hetzer" :-) I've been inside
"the real deal" and can only imagine how fun it is to drive it around.
 To me it wouldn't make *any* difference that it wasn't really "German"
or "WWII". Even if it was parked right next to a museum piece that was.
 For rare stuff like this, close enough is good enough for me. And if I
were Joe Somebody at a MVPA show that had such a vehicle there, I would
be happy as heck to see it. I just would want to be correctly informed
that it isn't "the real deal".

Steve



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