Just arrived from via an e-bay 'digger' in Russia, chassis-plate from an Opel 'Blitz' (?) truck : - 'Found near Stalingrad' said the description ( 'yeah - right' thought I. Everything comes from Stalingrad.... ) but it did arrive in a little packet post-marked 'Volgograd' so who knows...? Anyhow, it's from Russia, and the 'Baujahr' ( build-year ) is 1939. OK - RRCollector will probably come on in a minute saying that the Russians churn these out by the million but I was the only bidder, the postage cost more than the item and it'd be very hard indeed to reproduce the corrosion and damage to this plate. It was on the Eastern Front and I'm pleased to have it in my collection !
Oh - I just checked. It is from an Opel Blitz - the Brandenburg-Havel plant was set up by Opel in 1935 just to build trucks for the Wehrmacht. Cars were built at Russelsheim. Brandenburg produced 130,000 trucks between 1935-1944 when it was destroyed by bombing, and it fell into the Soviet Zone after WWII. So I am still pleased ! ( Later still : '3,6 - 36 -50' is most definitely an Opel Blitz - isn't Google wonderful ? ).
cool. not often you see a data plate,just a question, what is the word/numeral group after the word opel? or is it too damaged to tell?
A fantastic relic, Martin. Isn't eBay wonderful...sometimes! I have seen many items up for auction on eBay (dogtags being a favourite) where the seller claims they were found at major battle sites, and I'm usually dubious about their origin. Your relic however looks to be the real deal.
The legible wording /lettering on this plate is : - 'ADAM OPEL AG WERK BRANDENBURG / HAVEL TYPE : 3,6 - 36 - 50 BAUJAHR : 1939 HUBRAUM : 3626 FAHRGESTELL...... MOTOR..............' The rest can't be made out.
Hmm, wonder if they changed the plates for Maultier or SdKfz.4/1 conversions? They were German, so they probably did, but you never know... ~A
Must say that my 'Opel Blitz' knowledge is very limited indeed.....this is my first vehicle part, so I'm not quite in the Wheatcroft Collection league yet
Guess I'd better cancel my order then for this 'genuine' freshly dug EK2 from a Mr Chernekov in Russia. He assured me he used special cleaning techniques to make it like new again.
I think I'll let RRCollector pass comment on that one ! ( Or maybe you'll be missing the bargain opportunity of a lifetime............ )
I'm thinking that '3,6 - 36' might begin to indicate a box bodied variant, or maybe something a little more than the 'standard' Blitz anyway. Is it definitely a 50 after those numbers, Martin? Having some trouble with nomenclature but the 'standard' Blitz would (it seems likely, not certain) be marked 3,6 - 6700 (or 3,6 - 34 - ** if wheelbase is indicated by that second number, as it appears to be (the '3,6' is engine size by the way)). The Havel manufacture location also points somewhat towards the longer wheelbase Blitz. Quite interesting (to me), as the Maultier halftracks do indeed appear to have been based on that slightly longer '36' chassis. ~A
Right - using the point of a knife and a little white spirit, I've cleared some of the muck away, and now it more clearly reads : - ' 3,6 - 36 - 30 ' Possibly followed by a letter , b (?), but that is very indistinct indeed.
Cheers, Martin. Scant 'proof' as yet, but I'm beginning to wonder (speculate may be a better word) if it might have been a fire-fighting fitted machine. Hit a site or two earlier with Finnish Fire Blitzes on them with the first pair of numbers, now pottered onto this: Fahrzeuge (first one- translates well in Google). Just as likely it's simply the box-body being referenced, but I've got little real detail on chassis numbers. Hmmmm... ~A
Yes - I found that Finnish site too ! Most of the Stalingrad 'diggers' seem to focus on the Gumrak/Pitomnik airfield areas so fire-fighting would seem to fit, except that I doubt that the Wehrmacht or Luftwaffe would have driven a fire-engine deep into the Eastern Front ( I've certainly never seen a pic ). But here, I'm getting into the 'if only it could talk' realm of relic-dreaming......
