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 located in Leicestershire, England, and is one of the largest private collections of military vehicles in the world.[1] [2]
Items in the collection
The collection has around 200 items, including more than 130 vehicles, of which 88 are tanks.[3] 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.[4] The owner of the collection, Kevin Wheatcroft, has been collecting military vehicles for 30 years.[5]
German WWII Vehicles
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, a StuG assault gun, a Panzer III, and a Panzer IV tank and various components from many other vehicles. The collection is also working on restoring the only surviving German E Boat.
Exhibition and events
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.[5]
References
- "Wheatcroft Collection". wheatcroftcollection.com.
- "The Wheatcroft Collection". militarymodelling.com.
- Preston, Alex - "The man who sleeps in Hitler’s bed" The Guardian, 24/6/2015
- The Wheatcroft Collection - Inventory page
- Graham, Natalie "FT MONEY: Tanks for the memories - at a high price" Financial Times (London, England) [serial online]. 22 July 2006:7. Accessed 28 October 2012.