Oh boy my time has come.
Panzer III Ausf. M: theres nothing really special but it got a place in my heart after watching Girls und Panzers, I also just find it very cute if that makes any sense. Aesthetically pleasing as well.
M18 GMC: This one i know very little about irl, but its fun annoying the shit out of player in War Thunder with it.
BT-7 + 42: The 7 gets a spot because I love the trivia behind it. Specifically the longest tank jump. I also like thinking of the BT-42 as the younger (autistic) brother of the KV-2. I mean just look at it its turret itsjust. such a meme. but speaking of stupid looking turrets
T-100 (Egypt): Take a very useful hull and slap a big fucking gun on it (I mean i guess thats most designers thoughts
) but just look at what they did to the T-34. that is a disgustingly beautiful sight
and possibly my favorite tank of all time. The Mark V. It's (literally) a classic. If theres anything I'd love to see rebuilt and moving its this tank. The Cats are all cool but the original tank is a really interesting take. The side sponsons would be really interesting to see in a modern tank (but useless
). I'd love to have seen what tank design would've looked like if this became the standard. I'm sure eventually turrets would take over since they're incredibly useful but I just wish there was one tank that went into service with the side sponson - turret combo, although looks like theTOG II is the closest to it I'll get. Even if it never actually served.
I've got more favourites but these are the 5/6 that come to mind immediately. My actual knowledge of how useful a tank was in combat is limited to the big ones though (T34/Panzers/Sherman), so i don't know how much I can add there :p