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There are fourteen pages to this History of Tiger Tanks.
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The History of the Tiger Tank.

The German War Department had no plans to build tanks larger than 36 tons weight at the start of the war.

Anything heavier would have been incapable of crossing most river bridges, which imposed a severe tactical limitation.

Henschel und Sohn of Kassel, who had been working on a 30 ton tank chassis since 1938, were ordered to design a 36 ton machine in May 1941.
This tank was to have frontal armour 100mm thick and mount a gun capable of defeating 100mm armour at 1,500 metres.

It seems reasonable to deduce from this that these specifications were inspired by experiences against British and French tanks in 1940 and, in particular, against British Matilda tanks in the Libyan Desert in 1941. 		36 ton tank design by Henschel und Sohn of Kassel, May 1941
First running chassis VK3601H, early 1942 Known as VK3601(H) the first running chassis appeared in the early part of 1942. It was powered by a Maybach HL174 engine, a petrol fuelled V12 rated at 500hp.

The tank had lateral torsion bar suspension with overlapping road wheels and a hull form which was roughly similar to the Panzer IV in that it did not extend over the tracks.
Like most other German tanks the engine was at the rear, driving an eight-speed transmission and drive sprockets at the front.

The armament selected for VK3601(H), in order to achieve the specified performance, was a 75mm weapon (Gerat 725) with a tapered bore designed to fire tungsten core ammunition. The shortage of tungsten put paid to this plan and by July 1941 the entire project was abandoned. However a prototype and six trial chassis were built.

Hitler, however, was not satisfied with the War Department's cautious approach. He was convinced of the need for heavier tanks and more powerful guns and, in October 1940, had already ordered Dr Ferdinand Porsche to initiate a design.

This was duly confirmed by the War Department and the design awarded the specification VK4501(P).
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