A dedicated project team has successfully created a replica Spanish Civil War-era Panzer I Ausführung B tank, writes Craig Moore
This admirable, full-scale, scratchbuilt, working reproduction of a 1930s German Panzer I Ausführung B tank was constructed by the Panzer I Project team in Spain. In June 2023, it took part as a ‘guest vehicle’ in the arena show at The Tank Museum Bovington’s Tankfest. The museum’s practice of inviting different vehicles from other collections to take part in Tankfest is one of the reasons people attend the show year after year, as there is always something different to see.
In the show’s ‘Tank Park’, I was able to interview the men behind the project: Jose Joaquin Martinez, Miguel Gonzalez and Jesus Fernandez. The project was set up five years ago by this group of friends who shared an interest in military vehicles. The team modelled their tank on the surviving Panzer I on display at the Museo de Medios Acorazados, El Goloso, near Madrid, Spain, which had seen combat during the Spanish Civil War.
I started off the interview by asking why they wanted to build a Panzer I replica.
With a big smile, Miguel replied: “Because we are crazy!”. They got the idea following a visit t…
