German civilian vehicles during WW-II

[geoffsteer]

Hi Guys-
I am researching German civilian vehicles in use during WW-II for the sake of something a little different to go on my flatcar which will be behind my BR-52. By "civilian" I really mean non-military government services that could not make do with a horse and cart an example of this would be the post office VW Beetle offered in the CMK kit. I guess fire fighting would also fall into this category so I'll be researching that also. Any suggestions from you knowledgeable people would be apreciated.
With thanks-
Geoff Steer [;-{/)

[palic]

Well, have you tried Wheels+Tracks Quarterly Magazine...?
At least this could be a reliable source of pics of German civilian or military cars "liberated" or "confiscated" by Allies...
Could you imagine a Mercedes convertible, glossy black with lots and lots of white stars?

[JimWeb]

I wouldn't write off the wehrmacht vehicles as no end of civilian stuff was commandered and some interesting images can be found by looking around.

[palic]

I believe this is what Geoff is dreaming about - a flatcar loaded with wheeled vehicles of civilian origin. Unfortunately all these vehicles were militarised/used by Wehrmacht, Luftwaffe or ...
The other problem is the number of civilian types is pretty limited (in 1/35 scale) so I can recommend some products made by Plus Model (I can know the owner but I have no profit from mentioning the name of company here).
VW Beetle mail service car (made by CMK) is with the highest probability a postwar rebuilt vehicle...

[Jens_O_Mehner]

Geoff,

how about a nice regular VW Beetle with Reichsbahn plates and a nice uniform dark grey paintcoat? That would be your safest bet, as the "Reichspost"-Beetle raised several red flags in my addled brain, one being "post-war", and the other one labeled "one-off", although the latter flag could be in relation to the similar Kübelwagen conversion- I wish I could replace all my references lost in a fire some years ago, but some books are either nowhere to be found or astronomically priced.

Cheers,

Jens O.

[geoffsteer]

Hi Jens-
If the post office Beetle is a post war conversion, one question comes readily to mind: what about the ambulance markings? There was a series of articles in Military Modeler about twenty years ago called "civilians in the military" about civilian vehicles pressed into military service. One such article was about this very Beetle used as an ambulance, I'll have to go digging to find the issue which, is somewhere in my collection. I think the author of that article said it was used in WW-II.
I have ordered a kit from MK models of the Tatra 87 which I plan on putting on my flatcar with a Beetle. The Tatra 87 was used by the wehrmacht who, interestingly, were ordered to stop using it as it was killing to many officers who tended to get a little to enthusiastic with the steering! Lastly, thanks for the great picture, military vehicles or not, it does help a great deal!
Bye for now-
Geoff Steer [;-{/)

[geoffsteer]

Hi (again) Jens-
Just dug out that old issue of Military Modeler, it is a November 1991 issue so, not quite twenty years old. The article is by Duane J. Pfister and gives brief history before moving on to describe the model with some nice photos included as well. Anyway, Mr. Pfister says the vehicles (he mentions both the ambulance and the post office versions) were delivered early in '45 with the ambulance being un-popular and given a pass in favour of larger vehicles. If Mr. Pfister's info is correct then there is a brief window of time for the use of the post office Beetle. However, that window is a little to narrow for my purposes, I'll give the p.o. Beetle a pass and follow your advice.
Thanks for your help-
Geoff Steer [;-{/)

[J.McGillivray]

In Hans von Luck’s book “Panzer Commander�, the author states that he was using a Mercedes cabriolet as his personnel vehicle during 1940-1941, in France and later in Russia. There is a photo of a 1939 model on the site below.


www.prewarcar.com/show...r_id=10689

[JimWeb]

A lot of these were impressed and issued as Kfz. 1. The Longer wheelbase four-door versions had a radio box fitted in the boot and were issued as ersatz Fu. Kw (Kfz. 2)

[J.McGillivray]

There are some more photos of cars in German Army service at this site.

www.autogallery.org.ru/mb170v.htm

[palic]

To geoffsteer: still searching for something attractive or cool to be loaded on the flatcar?
What about this:

[geoffsteer]

Hi Guys-
My thanks to everyone who helped with my posting especialy to Palic for the photos included in his replies. Palic's photo of the cars and trucks sitting on the flatcars is of special interest as it shows some vehicles placed across the gap between two different flatcars something I would not have thought possible without seeing it in a photo. Actually, it simply would not have occurred to me without seeing it in a photo. So, thank you for the help.
Bye for now-
Geoff Steer [;-{/)