Fiat 611

The Fiat 611 is an armoured car produced in Italy by Fiat in collaboration with Ansaldo for colonial use. Ansaldo designed it in 1932 around the Fiat 611 C truck, the C standing for Coloniale, which was also the ancestor of the Fiat Dovunque 33, and the following year the Corps of Public Security Guards adopted it and bought 10 examples, five armed with machine guns alone and five with a cannon. At the outbreak of the Ethiopian War it was requisitioned by the Regio Esercito and sent to Somalia, where it served beside the older Lancia 1Z armoured cars and CV33 fast tanks. This first trial by fire showed deficiencies caused by its high weight, low speed and mediocre handling on varied ground. It was then used in Italian East Africa through the Second World War with little success, given the difficulty of finding spare parts and the intrinsic obsolescence of the design. It rests on the six-wheel chassis of the 611 C with the four rear twin wheels driven, a double driving position at front and rear, and armour plate of up to 10 millimetres.