Figured ide stir the pot a bit, but here is my list for the the best 5 tanks ever used/produced

1. M1 Abrams- the pinnacle of modern tank design
2. T-34 Although much of it was copied from the Christie tank, it had so many revolutionary atributes....and lets face it, it worked
3. Centurion- everything a tank should be
4. Panther- Nazi Germany's best and probably most successfull "big cats"
5. M4 Sherman- flawed, but was easy to maintain, and was very simple to mass produce. Simply genius design.

Tell me what you think!!!

i dunno,
i thunk
kubelwagen
Spitfire
hms hood
50 Cal MG
and a stick of dyamite

on seriousness,
Leo2. great design
kv1. soviet tank spam
Churchill AVRE. handy as hell
Panzer 4 , backbone of the Axis forces
and the Centurion

Here's what I think:
1) Little Willie: First tank ever, without it nothing would follow.
2) M1 Abrams- the most technological advanced ever
3) M4 Sherman- like what John said

4)King Tiger- If I saw one of this headin my way, I'd RLH!
5) Panzer IV- Like the Sherman there was the gun tank and about 20 other versions and mods on the good, reliable base vehicle.

Thats just my opinion,
Rich

1) Little Willie (reason as above)
2) Centurion - simply the best
3) Sherman (again, reasons as above), put mass produced armour onto the battlefield
4) T34 - as for the Sherman + sloped armour
5) Tiger - just for the impact that it had on those that faced it!

Centurion, reached it's zenith with the IDF.
M-1, uparmored.
King Tiger, for the want of a better engine.
T34/85 didn't meet it's match till the Pershing in Korea.
Challenger II,
I gotta add the Merkava IV.

How was it flawed? One must seperate what the tank was designed to do from what roles it actually did do. The Sherman was designed as an "exploitation" tank. Designed to rush through the hole broken in the enemy lines and exploit the breakhrough. Therefore it needed good mobility, speed, reliability and for what one would expect to encounter behind enemy lines edequate armor. the Sherman had all of these and excelled in the role which Patton and the 3rd Army proved. It was not designed to take on Tigers or Panthers (these were designed after the Sherman was rolling out of the factories) and for what armor it was most likely to encounter, Pz. IVs and Stugs, it was pretty well off. I think the Sherman was probably one of the best tanks ever designed and produced when considering the role it was deigned to do and then the fact that it was so easily converted to fill other roles also. The Panther was deigned to counter other tanks and did this very well. But that's about all it did well. It was prone to breaking down so not good for exploiting broken enemy lines, it didn't have a very good HE round so not so good in the support role against dug in enemy troops or AT guns. I Just get a little ired when I hear people say the Sherman was "Flawed". Just my opinion.

Roy

Yes The Good old Sherman! Panther Tank V's Tank T 34/85 Just went on and on. PzIV IT started and Finished, a real "Billy Bolt On" The Cent A Few Months Too Late WWII. Who Put that Crap Israiley APC in the mix? No match even for a RPG, hat to go all medival and arm it with Balls and Chains

I must say that I agree. The whole Sherman vs Tiger/Panther thing needs to end. Compare the Sherman to it's German counterpart; the Pz IV. Read a book. I suggest Armored Thunderbolt by Steven Zaloga.

I'd just like to add that there are still Sherman's and Sherman-based vehicles in use today. Quite a testament to it's design, I'd say.

I gotta agree on the Sherman. What if the German's had built it instead? Made for mass production, simple, reliable, easy to maintain, and able to exploit a breakthrough. In 1942 it was as good or better than anything else out there. Sloped armor, interleavened road wheels, wider track and armed with a 7.5cm L40? JagdSherman with an 88? StuSherman? Sherman Ostwind? Be glad they didn't adopt such a design. They could have done the same thing with the T-34 (and almost did). Considering how much they adapted the Panzer IV and how successful that was it isn't really a stretch to imagine.