The Tank Museum has announced the latest update on its restoration of the King Tiger V2. The restoration project, which is one of the museum’s most ambitious engineering projects to date, is relying on supporters to raise £1 million to restore World War II-era tank to running condition.
King Tiger V2 is the oldest surviving King Tiger in existence. It’s known as “V2” because it was the second of 492 King Tigers to be built. The V is short for “Versuchs,” which translates to “experimental” or “trial.”
Workshop Manager Duncan Masters said in a press release:
“Thanks to the generous donations of our supporters so far, we have been able to start work on the King Tiger. The team have started to carefully remove and meticulously catalogue the removed parts to make sure we can keep track of them and their condition.
“With King Tiger being an experimental vehicle, we are learning a lot about it, and I anticipate we will learn a lot more throughout the project.”
Key stages of the project so far include:
- Removal of the turret, which proved challenging, due to the lack of historic information on its exact weight.
- Gun extraction (it’s been confirmed that it’s the original that was mounted on the tank back in the 1940s).
- Track removal, with both tracks removed in preparation for dismantling the suspension and running gear.
- All seven of the vehicle’s fuel tanks have been removed.
- Breaking down the fuel system has begun, which will require pressure testing over 100 seals.
The Tank Museum’s King Tiger is the only surviving one to be fitted with the pre-production turret. It was on static display at the museum from the mid-1950s until it was sent on a tour of European museums in 2019.
Duncan continued:
“We have also uncovered more parts inside the vehicle than we thought we had, and we’ve even found some parts from other vehicles. With the project being anticipated to take four years, the team are having to remain process-driven at every step.
“Safety is paramount, and whenever we have suspicions of asbestos being present, we need to pause whilst we carry out the relevant tests.
“It has been a truly fascinating journey so far, and we look forward to sharing more updates on our Tank Museum Workshop YouTube Channel.”
More from us: From The Tank Museum: Wartime Bullet Discovered In Museum Tank
More information about the project and how to support it can be found by visiting the Tank Museum’s website.