Hans-Hermann Bühling shares some pictures of a Steyr RSO with PaK 40 from the Stammheim Museum.



Link to Item

If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

Note: When trying the link I get only a notification that I do not have permission to view the site.

Vehicle that was previously on display at the Victory Museum, Auburn, IN. USA.
Photo copyright Michael Koenig 2005 - All rights reserved

Sorry about that, should be fixed now.

That must have been something to see fire - such a light chassis and such a powerful gun; I'm surprised it didn't take off.

The travel clamp for the barrel looks like it's made from re-purposed machine gun barrels.

I think those might actually be the driver's steering laterals.

Did the Pak 40 really sit that low on the rear deck?
It just doesn't look right to me for some reason.

This machine look different in that the raised cover beside the driver is quite different in height & has a wee hatch at the front, and the U.S. one has the wooden side panels

Thanks for the photos, I envy you the chance to see these museums! Those angled bars on the left side front by the driver's position are the steering control mechanisms that controlled the tracks on either side, and yes, that's how it was supposed to look in terms of the gun's height. It was designed to be low so as to better hide in ambush. The very nature of the beast bespeaks the desperation towards the end of the war.

https://binged.it/2IapxlL

I found this picture, seems some versions had a higher pedestal mount?
The RSO looks like it would blow right over when firing like that.

The 'kill tally' on the gun shield is rather interesting

I think we're talking about two different things. Take a look at Hans-Hermann's second and third photos. I am referring to the mechanism to lock the barrel down in transit, not the steering levers visible in the first photo.

Same here ,looks like a realy bad Frankstein

Interestingly, the restorers in both cases have chosen to mark these vehicles as belonging to armoured divisions - the Stammheim one to ISS Panzer Korps, the Auburn item to 116th "Windhund" Panzer Division. This is almost certainly incorrect. The RSO was originally developed to provide more transport to Infantry units (as also was the SWS, Schere Wehrmacht Schlepper or Heavy Army Tractor). It had a cheaper dry-pin track system, not Cletrac and was therefore too slow for the Panzer Division role. The Pak40 equipped version had a top speed of only 17kph (10 mph).

Seems to me that this is not a standard Pak40 shield... poor restoration or different version?

According to Nuts and Bolts, this is not original vehicle, therefore not to be used as reference. Armored cab is wrong shape, gun mount is wrong, fighting platform is also garage creation. This is post war mock-up, nothing more.

I cannot comment on the vehicle at the Victory Museum one way or the other as to accuracy. I only know that this collection was purchased en mass from a Museum closing somewhere in Europe and then moved to the US. Many of the items at the Victory Museum have since been sold off to support the US Museum and keep it in business.

Hate it when you can't even count on the so-called museums to be authentic. curious; How did you know that this Frankenstein was a postwar fabrication?

As i wrote, thats what Nuts and Bolts #9 states. Originally this vehicle came from Arlon museum in Belgium. Drivers compartment lacks conical shape, and all the rest details/features dont match period pictures. It looks like it is remake of cargo version to something "cooler". Side boards open completely just like in cargo version, and are not locked in horizontal position, to increase fighting platform size.
The cab cannot be some prototype stuff. V4 prototype had box shaped driver compartment, which looks just like RSO/03 cab with windshield cut off. Later, it was replaced with new, lower siluete driver compartment already featuring conical shape seen on production vehicles. (this can be seen in panzertracts 7-3 pictures).
Gun travel locks etc were pretty much standard and used in many other PAK40 armed vehicles, thus unlikely something "custom" was made for single tractor.
Btw, Sinsheim museums vehicle is also not original, but a mock up. As for authenticity, well museums were notorious for making up color schemes, and adding missing features. For example Munster RSO was restored during 1992-1993. Side boards were added then as well, as original ones seem to be missing on pre-restoration pictures. Sad, but true.