The Sdkfz 251 halftrack was one of the most produced German vehicles of WW2 and one of the most recognisable in current culture.
Its versatility allowed for the easy production of 23 different variants including troop carriers, an ambulance, radio command, flame thrower and anti-aircraft vehicles.
The Sd Kfz 251 version ’7’ was a pioneer vehicle - special carriers were fitted with racks to carry assault bridge treadways, mines, tools and other heavy equipment of the Panzerpionier company.
More than 16,000 were manufactured up to 1944 by Hanomag, Auto-Union, Skoda, Adler, and Borgward. Hundreds were destroyed and abandoned in Normandy and just 10 have survived in Europe.
Found in Normandy in the early 1970s at the construction company Lombaert in L'Aigle, Orne, this vehicle still had its original full armour as well as bridges and supports intact.
By the end of the 1970s it had been restored to running condition and now stands inside the Overlord Museum at Colleville-sur-Mer, near Omaha Beach in Normandy.