This is a rare find a Smaller sized steering wheel which is 16 inches wide and is from a pre or early war 1.5-2.5-ton German Opel Blitz lorry of the 116th Panzer Division.
The steel made wheel is a solid relic with no major damage but rusty and discoloured the wheel is very stable, not breaking apart, and still with a lot of the rubber cover which is solid and with its original black colour . The wheel has been carefully cleaned, making it ideal for display or any collection. This is a particularly rare piece which was taken at the time by a local, recovered from a lorry abandoned in the Village of Mont near Houffalize. The Lorry was left behind after fighting in the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge in the winter of 1944-1945.
The wheel with other parts were taken from a abondned German vehicles in the village of Mont which is just North of Houffalize.The wheel was taken of the vehicle in around 1946-1948 by a local farmer and was used on his farm for many years until it was found by a local collector who had it in his private collection until 2021 when it left the Ardennes area for the first time since the war.
Opel Blitz lorries did have variations in steering wheel design and size, primarily due to different models (light/middleweight), production years (pre-war, wartime, post-war), and specific roles, with some having larger wheels for better leverage on heavy trucks and others for more basic transport with smaller size wheels.
This is a rare find a Smaller sized steering wheel which is 16 inches wide and is from a pre or early war 1.5-2.5-ton German Opel Blitz lorry of the 116th Panzer Division.
The steel made wheel is a solid relic with no major damage but rusty and discoloured the wheel is very stable, not breaking apart, and still with a lot of the rubber cover which is solid and with its original black colour . The wheel has been carefully cleaned, making it ideal for display or any collection. This is a particularly rare piece which was taken at the time by a local, recovered from a lorry abandoned in the Village of Mont near Houffalize. The Lorry was left behind after fighting in the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge in the winter of 1944-1945.
The wheel with other parts were taken from a abondned German vehicles in the village of Mont which is just North of Houffalize.The wheel was taken of the vehicle in around 1946-1948 by a local farmer and was used on his farm for many years until it was found by a local collector who had it in his private collection until 2021 when it left the Ardennes area for the first time since the war.
Opel Blitz lorries did have variations in steering wheel design and size, primarily due to different models (light/middleweight), production years (pre-war, wartime, post-war), and specific roles, with some having larger wheels for better leverage on heavy trucks and others for more basic transport with smaller size wheels.
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