Thanks G so now that we’ve compared bags & boxes let’s not speak of it again
All that stuff’s now bubble-wrapped at an undisclosed location, I’ll be moving it myself so there’ll be nobody else to blame.
Thanks Nicolas & good to hear from you…ah this old chestnut, I covered it back in the mists of time in the first few pages of this project but I haven’t seen this recent clip before, so let’s re-examine the car with semi-fresh eyes:
Mercedes said it has no information about ownership but if they’re certain only one of the 34 320E’s was actually manufactured at Mannheim, it’s circumstantial evidence that this is the same vehicle because Heydrich reportedly drove it back to Prague himself having taken delivery of it there in late ‘41. But of the other 33 vehicles, several others could have been taken to Mannheim for the same or similar customisation as the allegedly single one built there. So no clinching proof there.
It’s easy to play spot-the-difference with images of the original barn photos vs. the green version (are they really the same car?) vs. the 1942 images, but it doesn’t prove/disprove anything. Alterations always happen to cars & this one’s now over 80 years old. That said, if the Danish wreck was believed to be Heydrich’s why would the original radiator grille (with the small Merc badge just below the mascot) be replaced with a different grille of lesser quality in the green version? Actually even the barn photos show a different grille to 1942, there’s no hard edge along the top of the original.
No mention was made in the clip of the quite large additional fitting required to house the radio which certainly was installed, either at Mannheim or by the SS in Prague. Apparently neither Lauritzen nor the narrator noticed the aerial showing in the 1942 photos. While the radio would have long gone its original fitting (and/or the aerial’s) or traces of it would have provided reasonably strong evidence. The fact there’s no mention of it at all raises red flags for me.
Many axles get bent, and rust repairs got fixed with tin. If I’d become the owner of that wreck and believed it was Heydrich’s, I’m absolutely certain that BEFORE I restored it many photos would have been taken of the insides/underneath of the rear right wing, rear right floor-pan, cabin/boot wall, and rear axle, to show the alleged grenade-damage repairs and any sign of remaining damage in forensic detail. Shrapnel would have left scratches & blast marks in all nearby inside panels, not worth repairing. I’m not aware of any such photos, and only they would convince me - one way or the other.
And no it wasn’t me who tried to dig him up, I’d have used dynamite
