Anyone hear what became of this?
They should have been returned in my opinion, but I hope at the very least they would have been put on public display somewhere and not stashed away somewhere to deteriorate. I know the old gent didn’t have them on open display himself, but at least upon his passing he might have provided for such whereas the government is not known for acting appropriately or in a timely manner.
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After it was seized it was taken by the Bundeswehr, and moved to one of their training areas for storage. I presume along with the 88mm he had and other bits.
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Probably get crated, cataloged, stashed, and forgotten in some giant secret warehouse. 
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They Put their Top Men on it.
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Yeah, Frenchy, that’s exactly what I had in mind! 
It’d be a sad thing to see it get stashed away somewhere. Hopefully this stuff’ll get put in a museum somewhere where it belongs.
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The issue here is that the owner conflicted with German “gun” laws. The Panther was purchased legally after the war from UK. The trial is still on and the tank stored at a Bundeswehr Kaserne, perhaps in Plön. What I read, the owner will have to pay the storage costs when the trial is ended.
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If he wins will he still have to pay storage costs? Seems like if he wins, he shouldn’t have to pay storage and the government should be forced to pay for any all damages to antique Panther.
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Any updates, news or rumors?
Nothing I have heard of.
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I did see some comments on YouTube saying it had been given back to the owner
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well it was something i saw on a youtube video about it, it might not be true as there was no evidence to back up the guy’s statement.
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He is currently on trial to see if he violated the War Weapons Control Act, which will be determined on the basis of the likelihood the tank and other items could be returned to functionality and used in conflict. It carries a 5 year prison sentence.
The defendant is 84, and in my opinion even taking a moment to consider this is idiotic. Even if he was able to restore it fully, it was estimated each round for the main gun would cost 200,000 euros to manufacture IF he could find someone willing to do so. OH SUCH A THREAT!
It took me less than a minute to search online for this info.
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The prosecution and those they work for should resign; they apparently enjoy wasting money and pursuing ridiculous cases.
I don´t think that German authorities are worried about a guy with a working 7,5 cm gun. I think they rther worried about a neighbor “borrowing” the tank and running amok. Over here, the law says that in specific parts of the tank (drivers seat and engine compartment) the armorhas to be “thinned” e.g. cutting out and welded over with thin sheet (2mm) so that ordinary police ofiicers can stop the driver with their handguns. I once met the owner of a Ferret who had to do this with its vehicle. He also was forced to document the mods and tell it to local police station. German law is very strange sometimes.