In OTL there were projects for a tank featuring elements of the chassis of both the Panzer III and Panzer IV, a so-called Einheitsfahrgestell (standardized chassis). Wiking started this thread some years ago and there is also this wikipedia article on the subject.
The chassis of the Hummel self propelled heavy field howitzer, and of the Nashorn self propelled anti-tank gun also featured a combination of elements from the Panzer III (the driving and steering system according to the wikipedia system) and the Panzer IV (suspension and engine according to the same source).
My question is: why were the components of the Panzer III used?
Did the driving and steering system of the Panzer III show a better performance?
Could they be manufactured more cheaply than the corresponding elements of the Panzer IV?
Or was it just that the engineers were looking for a way to utilize Panzer III elements or the machines to produce them, that otherwise would have been unused when the Panzer III itself was phased out of production?
I would be very grateful for any information on these points and also for links or book and article titles.
The chassis of the Hummel self propelled heavy field howitzer, and of the Nashorn self propelled anti-tank gun also featured a combination of elements from the Panzer III (the driving and steering system according to the wikipedia system) and the Panzer IV (suspension and engine according to the same source).
My question is: why were the components of the Panzer III used?
Did the driving and steering system of the Panzer III show a better performance?
Could they be manufactured more cheaply than the corresponding elements of the Panzer IV?
Or was it just that the engineers were looking for a way to utilize Panzer III elements or the machines to produce them, that otherwise would have been unused when the Panzer III itself was phased out of production?
I would be very grateful for any information on these points and also for links or book and article titles.