In May 2024, the team at the Tank Museum, in Bovington, United Kingdom, noticed their beloved Tiger 131 was suffering an oil leak. This prompted them to seek out the help of an outside company to return the German Tiger I back to working order. As was witnessed at the museum’s Tiger Day Autumn this past September, the issue has been fixed, without the appearance of any other problems.
Speaking in a press release, Chris Van Schaardenburgh, the head of collections at the Tank Museum, said, “When we discovered a major oil leak this May, we decided that the engine needed to come out for a full inspection. The problem is with engines like this, you don’t exactly know what the issue is and how it can be fixed until it’s on the stand.”
At the time, ARMYTECH, a Czech company specializing in rebuilding historic engines, was visiting the Tank Museum workshop, and both teams worked together to prepare a plan of action to fix the leak. As it turns out, Tiger 131’s World War II-era Maybach engine had bearing damage and problems with the cooling of its cylinder head.
This proved concerning, as the tank was slated to appear at Tiger Day Autumn in just a few months times.
“We had a hard deadline to have the engine repaired by, but at the same time, we weren’t prepared to take risks or cut corners,” van Schaardenburgh explained.
Captured by British forces during the Tunisia Campaign in 1943, Tiger 131 was restored and sent to Britain. In 1953, the Tiger I tank arrived at the Tank Museum, where it’s remained ever since, undergoing restoration work, as needed.
To repair the damage, ARMYTECH had to remove the engine from the tank, repair and rebuild it, at which point it was returned to the Tank Museum to be reinstalled. The work was done just in time for Tiger 131 to make its highly-anticipated appearance in the museum’s outdoor arena on September 28, to the delight of 4,500 attendees.
“I can’t overstate just how challenging this project was, particularly under the circumstances,” van Schaardenburgh stated. “The team had to pull out all the stops but received excellent support from our partners – who could not have been more helpful. They both understood the importance and urgency of the project and we are very grateful to them.”
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Tiger 131 will return to the arena on April 25, 2025, for Tiger Day Spring.