Czech Cats for Sale

 
Czech T-34-85 "Tigers" in 1975Several T-34-85s tanks dressed to play German Tiger I tanks for the  1975 film "Operation Daybreak" have been for sale in the Czech Republic since the fall of the Iron Curtain. Several Germans had tried, without success, to purchase the "Tigers" as they sat idle and neglected in a military vehicle depot in the 1990s.  The Germans had intended to restore at least one of the Czech cats and employ it in a new WW2 reenactment group being formed to represent a schwere Panzer-Abteilung (heavy panzer battalion). 

Operation Daybreak Tiger I -  Late 90sNot long after the German efforts to purchase an esratz Tiger fell through, Hollywood came looking for film prop panzers.  Three of the "Operation Daybreak" Tigers were given fresh coat of "panzer" gray and put to work on the set of the 2001 made for TV movie "Uprising." 
"Uprising" 2001 - Tiger From AboveOnce filming ended the vehicles returned to outside storage.  In early 2007  a Morristown, Minnesota based military vehicle broker, TankRides.com began hawking the three "Uprising" VISMOD Tigers on their website, ebay motors, and Milweb.net.  The following are links to two of the webverts for the Czech cats:

Milweb.net  http://www.milweb.net/webverts/31836/

 TankRides.com   http://www.tankride.com/Russian_Tanks_For_Sale.html