The Wheatcroft Collection

The Wheatcroft Collection in the United Kingdom is a large and important collection of historical softskin and armoured military vehicles. It is one of the largest private collection of military vehicles in the world.

The collection has around 200 items, including more than 130 vehicles, of which 88 are tanks. The majority of the collection is of German, American and British origin, with a smaller number of vehicles from Norway, Japan, France, Russia and Sweden. The owner of the collection, Kevin Wheatcroft, has been collecting military vehicles for 30 years.

The collection is perhaps notable for having a number of extremely valuable and rare Second World War-era German military vehicles, including three Panther tanks, one of which is close to full restoration, one Panther II, two rare Tiger II (also known as "King Tiger") tanks, a Tiger 1 as well as a StuG assault gun, a Panzer III, and a Panzer IV tank. The collection is also working on restoring the only surviving German E Boat.

Currently, the collection is not on view to the public. However, the intention of its owner is to eventually restore and preserve as many of the vehicles as possible, and then to make them available to the public in a museum.

The collection supports two historical events in Britain, the War & Peace Show at Beltring and "Tankfest" at The Tank Museum, Bovington, Dorset. The collection's expert team also restores military vehicles for other owners, including a Tiger tank for the US and a Panther in Breda, the Netherlands.

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