The Maus that Roared

The Reader's Digest Book of Strange Stories, Amazing Facts.  Montreal:  The Reader's Digest Association (Canada) Ltd., 1975.

Designed by Ferdinand Porsche, the Maus ("Mouse") weighed 180 tons and stood almost 20 feet high.  Front armour was 12 inches thick.  It was powered by a 1500 hp Diesel engine driving an electric generator which powered two motors mounted in the hub of each caterpillar track.  Introduced in 1944, its sheer size and weight were its undoing.  Top speed of only 12 mph.  Each track was one yard wide, but it could only travel on the driest ground without sinking, and it cracked foundations on buildings along the roads it traveled, smashed cobblestones and shattered windows.

For another image, see my Early ATV posting.