Autoblindo Fiat-Ansaldo

The Autoblindo 40, 41 and 43 were a family of Italian armoured cars produced by Fiat-Ansaldo that saw service mainly during the Second World War. The design came from an Italian Ministry of War specification of 1937 for a vehicle serving both colonial police long-range patrols and army reconnaissance units, and a consortium of Fiat-SPA and Ansaldo-Fossati unveiled its two prototypes, called Abm 1, at the opening of the new Fiat Mirafiori plant near Turin in May 1939. The army standardised the car as the Autoblindo 40 in May 1940 and ordered a first batch of 176. The first AB 40, with two 8 mm machine guns in its turret, was built in small numbers; most of the 24 made were converted to the AB 41, which carried a 20 mm Breda 35 autocannon and a coaxial 8 mm machine gun. The AB 41 had four-wheel drive and four-wheel steering, a driving position at each end and could be fitted with rail wheels, and about 550 were built. A planned AB 43 with a 47 mm gun was overtaken by the armistice of September 1943.