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On ebay, a "real" Hetzer?


Pzkpfw-e

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I saw that. What the seller is claiming is that it is an actual war time production machine & not a post war G13. Either way, it's still pretty neat to see. 600k is a little out of my price range but considering what Stuarts & Shermans were bringing just a couple of years ago (over in the USA) the price for that Hetzer isn't all that bad.

Matt

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By no means an expert here, the only way I'm able to tell a G13 from a hetzer is the number of holes in the rear idler wheels, muzzle break (or threads for same), the power for the Notek light comes up from the bottem & not from above & behind it. Also on the G13s, the Swiss replaced the remote MG mount on the roof with a periscope. Also there was a large storage box on one side & on the opposite side, a spare road wheel was carried.

 

All of the above could be changed out to make the G13 look more like a Hetzer to the "trained eye" I'm sure. Like I posted earlier, even if that's not a original Hetzer but a G13, it's still a pretty cool item up for sale.

 

Think if I had a G13 I'd be tempted to paint it up as a G13 & not a faux Hetzer. It would probably stand out as I'm sure most of the surviving G13s have been back dated to look like Hetzers.....

 

Matt

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Hi, not sure myself of its origins, but the chassis number shown and quoted, is not the chassis number, its the engine number and is shown to be on cleaned up area of the engine itself, this is quite normal of course. So what its true chassis number is.......... ?? There is a small plate on the front armour that normally carries the chassis number, its there and you can see it in some of the photos , but whatever stamped numbering it carries is not mentioned at all. cheers paul

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AFAIK the G-13 were given away by the Swiss to museums foor free of netx to nothing.

If its true though?

 

I believe that's where & how the Texas Military forces museum got their G13/Hetzer. Was shipped to Texas in an airforce C-130/C-5 (?) cargo plane.

 

Matt

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Here's a guide to differentiating the species.

http://www.pzfahrer.net/hetzspecs.html

http://www.pzfahrer.net/improve.html

The biggies are the swapping of loader and commander positions and the Stuk40 gun, rather than the KwK39.

Interestingly on theis one, the rear idler is different on either side. 8 hole one side, 4 the other.

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Interestingly on theis one, the rear idler is different on either side. 8 hole one side, 4 the other.

 

 

After you posted that, I went back & looked :-D. That was probably done in motorpool way back when & nobody cared because it worked. Kind of funny, though.

Matt

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AFAIK the G-13 were given away by the Swiss to museums foor free of netx to nothing.

If its true though?

Yes they were, the Swiss army even delivered some! Not all were post war G13s, the one in my mates yard was built in 1944, but re-engined with a Saurer diesel. They are a pig to drive, the vision blocks are about the same size as the end of a swan vesta matchbox.

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Yes they were, the Swiss army even delivered some! Not all were post war G13s, the one in my mates yard was built in 1944, but re-engined with a Saurer diesel. They are a pig to drive, the vision blocks are about the same size as the end of a swan vesta matchbox.

 

 

From what I've read, the Swiss purchased roughly 150 war time machines from the Allies(?) just post war. That was the start. I guess the follow on orders would have had all of the mods done? Or added as they went?

 

As for being a pig to drive, I've never been inside one (G13/Hetzer) but have always thought that. Look at the size of those episcopes and there's only two of them!

 

 

Matt

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