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The first real panzer, issued in any sort of real numbers, was the Panzerkampfwagen I. This was a “tankette” design with a 2-man crew and armed with a turret mounting two 7.92mm mgs. Initial weight, combat loaded was 5.4 tons and it had a road speed of 37-40km/h and a road range of 140-150km. Armor ranged from 13mm to 6mm. It was produced in fourteen versions

Introduced in 1934 was the Panzerkampfwagen I A ohne Aufbau, this was a turretless version set up for driver training. 15 were built in between February and April 1934.

Introduced in 1934, the Panzerkampfwagen IA was the first mass-produced German tank. 816 were built between July 1934 and June 1936. It saw combat service in Poland, France, Denmark, Norway, Finland and North Africa. It was plagued by engine-cooling problems that resulted in at least three different fixes.

The PzKpfw IB was introduced in 1935 and featured a longer chassis (weight going up to 5.8 tons) and a re-designed rear deck to correct the overheating problems of the IA. 675 were built between August 1935 and June 1937. It saw combat service in Poland, France, Denmark, Norway, Finland and North Africa.

PzKpfw IB ohne Aufbau was a maintenance vehicle produced from June 1936 to November 1938, with some 164 being built. The turret and upper supers truce was removed and replaced with a simple structure. It was issued with 2 per panzer company until 1941 when it was too small to serve as a recovery vehicle, it was then reconfigured as a driver training vehicle.

Kleine Panzerbefehehlswagen was a IB with the turret removed and replaced with a taller superstructure. Weight was increased to 5.9 tons and it sported a 3-man crew. Armament was a single mg in a ball mount. This was a headquarters vehicle for the company commander and it served in this role into early 1941. It was withdrawn from the companies at this time and served until late 1942 with battalion and higher headquarters.

The Munitionsschlepper auf Panzerkampfwagen IA was a tracked ammunition carrier that was converted from 51 IA chassis in September 1939. It served in the Poland and Fracne campaigns.

15cm sIG33(Sf) auf Panzerkampfwagen IB were 38 converted IB hulls (February 1940), the turret was removed and a firing platform, protected by armor shields on three sides. Armament was the standard sIG33 150mm infantry support howitzer (on its normal field carriage). Intended to support the panzergrenadiers as a direct fire weapon, these served with Panzer Divisions 1-6 in Belgium, Holland and France. It remained in service at least through 1943 with Panzer Division 5 in Russia. Weight went up to 8.5 tons and it had a 4-man crew.

The Panzerkampfwagen IC was a prototype for an airborne recon vehicle. It replaced the old Camden-Loyld system with overlapping road wheels and a new track design. Combat weight was 8 tons, road sped was 79km/h and road range was 300km. Armament was changed to a 13mm mg and a co-axial 7.92mm mg. 40 were built between July and December 1942. Two saw service in Russia with Panzer Division 1, the remaining 38 with the LVIII Panzer Reserve Corps.

The 4.7cm PaK(t)(SF) auf Panzerkampfwagen I B was another conversion of the IB, the turret was removed and replaced with a pedestal mount for a47mm L43.4mm antitank gun (former Czech Army). Crew was increased to 3 men and the combat weight went up to 6.4 tons. It served in Belgium, France and North Africa until being phased out in 1943.

The last version was the PzKpfw IF was a major redesign of the vehicle. Combat weight went up to 21 tons, road speed went down to 25km/h. Armor protection ranged from 80mm to 25mm. 30 were built between April and December 1942. Like the IC, it had overlapping road wheels and a wider track. Eight saw service with Panzer Division 1 in Russia.

The PzKpfw Is helped train the Panzertruppen and served well in the earlier years of the war until 1942, most of these vehicles were scrapped or converted into Munitionsschlepper auf Panzerkampfwagen 1a und 1b. A divisional-level rebuild that stripped the turret and added a large steel box to carrier supplies. Most of these conversions served on the Eastern Front for the rest of the war.

The early German propganda films made a lot of noise about the “deadly effect” of the PzKpfw I, reality was very different. The Heer realized that the tankette design was never anything more than a stop gap doomed to support the infantry, or at most, serving in a recon role. An examination of the tanks assignments to oanzer Group Kleist (the panzer group during the French 1940 campaign) illustrate this, of the five panzer divisions present, three had strengths of 30 PzKpfw Is each, two had strengths of only 10 each. The primary strength of the 1940 campaign was the gun armed PzKpfw II.

source is the "Encyclopedia of German Tanks of WWII"