Nazi car with bullet holes from Normandy
A PEUGEOT with a typewriter installed by the Nazis is up for sale – riddled with bullet holes thought to be from the Normandy invasion.
The khaki 402 model was built in 1939 for the French army but was stolen by Germans and driven near to the front line of Normandy.
David Carson and Bob Whittaker have been restoring it and are seeking £20,000 for the car. David, who was awarded a military MBE for services to the Cadet Forces, said it was largely complete except for getting the engine running.
He said the previous owner had kept the car in a barn in northern France for 20 years.
“He’d done nothing with it,” he said. “I think he had ambitions and never got round to it.”
David, 62, said he and Bob had converted it into a command wagon, which was what the Germans used a lot big cars for.
“It’s got a German radio, it’s got a German typewriter,” he said. “It’s a bit like a film set in the back really.”
The pair are currently privately advertising the car to collectors and dealers but would love it if a museum could afford it.
David, who was a historical adviser on Indiana Jones films and Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, has yet to see all the original paperwork.
But he said: “We think that the bullet holes came from the battle of Normandy. We’ve got no proof of when it happened, but it certainly had been fairly well riddled.
“In France there was shortage of cars and lorries, so anything usable was taken by Germans.”