To accommodate the long and heavy gun, the hull had to be lengthened and the engine moved from the rear to the centre of the chassis.

Thus, like the Marder series, the vehicle was not intended to engage in tank fights, but to provide mobility to a powerful anti-tank gun.

[citation needed] The gun's performance enabled Nashorns to penetrate the front armour plating of any Allied combat vehicle and to engage enemy units while staying out of range themselves, thanks to its combination of excellent gunsights, optics, and accuracy.

The ability to engage the enemy at long distances negated the disadvantages of its light armour, lack of a roof and a large profile, and revealed that the weapon was well suited to the open and flat steppes that made up much of the landscape of the western Soviet Union.

In Italy, however, the generally hilly terrain was not as favourable to the harnessing of the Nashorn's full ability at accurate long-range fire against enemy forces as in Russia.

[citation needed] On 6 March 1945, a US Army M26 Pershing heavy tank was knocked out by a Nashorn in the town of Niehl near Cologne, at a close range of under 300 yd (270 m).

A third privately owned Nashorn with the hull serial number 310163 has been restored to running condition in the Netherlands.

[6] In 2019, this third surviving vehicle had reached the stage where it was driveable when it suffered severe damage after being caught in an accidental garage fire.