Book Review of
Opel Blitz
Author: Alan Ranger
MMP (Mushroom Model Publications)
Camera On no. 34
ISBN: 978-83-65958-97-6
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2021
MSRP: $ 25.00
Camera On no. 34
ISBN: 978-83-65958-97-6
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2021
MSRP: $ 25.00
HISTORY:
Opel Blitz (Blitz being German for "lightning") was the name given to various light and middleweight trucks built by the German Opel automobile manufacturer between 1930 and 1975. The original logo for this truck, two stripes arranged loosely like a lightning symbol in the form of a horizontally stretched letter "Z", still appears in the current Opel logo.
The Blitz name was then applied to the British-made Bedford CF when it replaced the Blitz in certain markets.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Manufacturer: Opel (General Motors)
Production: 1930–1975
Assembly: Rüsselsheim, Opelwerk Brandenburg, Mercedes-Benz Mannheim Blitz 3.6 until 1944
Class: light/medium truck, light commercial vehicle
Body styles: Van, Pickup truck, Minibus
Successor: Bedford Blitz (van/minibus)
THE BOOK:
MMP (Mushroom Model Publications) is based in the UK. All their books are printed by their associate Stratus Publications in Lublin, Poland in the English language. Stratus also does their own line books in both Polish and English.
This book is of soft-cover of 84 pages in 8 ¼” x 11 ¾” page format. Four pages are blank.
The cover art shows a black and white wartime photo of two Blitz trucks parked on a dirt road near a thick forest. Next to the forest there are 3 smaller German vehicles with a soldier looking in the window of one of them.
The Blitz in the foreground has two soldiers looking at its engine with the hood up. It and the 2nd Blitz have canvas roofs raised. There is a small boy behind the front Blitz and a soldier standing beside it.
The back cover shows another black and white wartime photo of a Opel Blitz 3-ton type “S” truck, that was photographed in the winter of 1942/43 on the southern Russian front. The crew members are seated on the trucks wings, fenders, a common occurrence in either partisan controlled areas, where keeping a good look-out and speed of reaction to a threat was the keys to survival and also when in areas where the enemy had air superiority, especially in the west in 1944/45.
By which time, seats (tractor type pressed steel ones) were fitted to the wings to aid in making it easier for a look-out to sit for long journeys.
The book begins with a FORWARD and INTRODUCTION. There is listing of 70 Kfz Sunderkraft Zeg (abbreviated Sd.Kfg. , German for Special Purpose Vehicle) was the ordinance inventory designation used by Nazi Germany during WWII for military vehicles.
There are 228 black and white wartime photos and 2 color ones in the book.
There are chapters on: The Opel Blitz 2.6 Liter 1.5 t, The Opel Blitz 3.5-134 & 3.5-157, 2t & 2.6 t, The Opel Blitz 2.0-12, 1t and The Opel Blitz 3.5-36 & 3.6-36 3 t,
These are pick-up, van and bus types. There is one picture of a fuel truck too.
This is neat picture album of the Opel Blitz trucks.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. Casemate is the North American distributor of MMP (Mushroom Model Publications) books and all MMP titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
Opel Blitz (Blitz being German for "lightning") was the name given to various light and middleweight trucks built by the German Opel automobile manufacturer between 1930 and 1975. The original logo for this truck, two stripes arranged loosely like a lightning symbol in the form of a horizontally stretched letter "Z", still appears in the current Opel logo.
The Blitz name was then applied to the British-made Bedford CF when it replaced the Blitz in certain markets.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Manufacturer: Opel (General Motors)
Production: 1930–1975
Assembly: Rüsselsheim, Opelwerk Brandenburg, Mercedes-Benz Mannheim Blitz 3.6 until 1944
Class: light/medium truck, light commercial vehicle
Body styles: Van, Pickup truck, Minibus
Successor: Bedford Blitz (van/minibus)
THE BOOK:
MMP (Mushroom Model Publications) is based in the UK. All their books are printed by their associate Stratus Publications in Lublin, Poland in the English language. Stratus also does their own line books in both Polish and English.
This book is of soft-cover of 84 pages in 8 ¼” x 11 ¾” page format. Four pages are blank.
The cover art shows a black and white wartime photo of two Blitz trucks parked on a dirt road near a thick forest. Next to the forest there are 3 smaller German vehicles with a soldier looking in the window of one of them.
The Blitz in the foreground has two soldiers looking at its engine with the hood up. It and the 2nd Blitz have canvas roofs raised. There is a small boy behind the front Blitz and a soldier standing beside it.
The back cover shows another black and white wartime photo of a Opel Blitz 3-ton type “S” truck, that was photographed in the winter of 1942/43 on the southern Russian front. The crew members are seated on the trucks wings, fenders, a common occurrence in either partisan controlled areas, where keeping a good look-out and speed of reaction to a threat was the keys to survival and also when in areas where the enemy had air superiority, especially in the west in 1944/45.
By which time, seats (tractor type pressed steel ones) were fitted to the wings to aid in making it easier for a look-out to sit for long journeys.
The book begins with a FORWARD and INTRODUCTION. There is listing of 70 Kfz Sunderkraft Zeg (abbreviated Sd.Kfg. , German for Special Purpose Vehicle) was the ordinance inventory designation used by Nazi Germany during WWII for military vehicles.
There are 228 black and white wartime photos and 2 color ones in the book.
There are chapters on: The Opel Blitz 2.6 Liter 1.5 t, The Opel Blitz 3.5-134 & 3.5-157, 2t & 2.6 t, The Opel Blitz 2.0-12, 1t and The Opel Blitz 3.5-36 & 3.6-36 3 t,
These are pick-up, van and bus types. There is one picture of a fuel truck too.
This is neat picture album of the Opel Blitz trucks.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. Casemate is the North American distributor of MMP (Mushroom Model Publications) books and all MMP titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
Recommended.