The Autoblindo Lancia Lince model is here
When Italy entered the war, it had one of the best armored cars of the moment, the AB40, but it was difficult to build and a little too heavy for communication, liaison or light reconnaissance missions. After the failure of the Italian offensives in Greece and Libya, the need became urgent both to increase the production rates of the AB40/41 but also to design a new lighter but also more efficient armored car. Lancia was asked to design a new chassis on which Ansaldo was to design a new body. The new armored car had to have good performance in terms of acceleration and speed and excellent off-road mobility, thanks to independent suspensions and all-wheel drive, it also had to have a gasoline engine.
The spring offensive of 1941, jointly with the Afrika Korps, made it possible to capture several examples of the Daimler Dingo. Also, when Lancia was called upon by the army, it naturally turned to the Daimler for inspiration. In fact of inspiration, the vehicle was so successful that Lancia practically copied the Daimler in terms of chassis, suspensions, direction, Ansaldo doing practically the same with the body. The prototype was presented only in November 1942 because in competition with the Vespa-Caproni, and accepted in March 1943. As a result of improvements, Lancia Lince turned out to be, one might say, the best of the Dingo. The engine was that of the first series of Lancia Astura modified to obtain more torque, the gearbox was copied from the Wilson gearbox of the Dingo. The body was modified at the rear to accommodate the new engine. the two crewmen were seated in the central part of the vehicle, the pilot on the right and the gunner on the left. The latter had an 8mm Breda machine gun mounted on a ball mount, The installation did not need to be done from scratch, it was simply taken from the Autoblinda 41. Since the machine gun magazine was on top, a ledge appeared in the removable roof. The machine gun could be disassembled for use outside the vehicle. Access on board was through the roof as on the Daimler. A flap in the rear wall of the turret made it easy to drive in reverse. The exhausts were placed on the rear fenders and headlights in the front. The front part had 14 mm thick armor while the side walls were 8,5 mm thick.
300 specimens were ordered, the production was to start in July 1943 but following the chaotic situation and bombardments, none were produced before the armistice of September 1943. The order was confirmed by the Germans on October 1, 1943 and the program was relaunched in February 1944 for the benefit of the German army and rare specimens for the RSI, which proved the qualities of the armored car, the Germans reserving it. The Lancia factories produced 263 chassis, and Ansaldo Fossati 128 vehicles (100 in 1944 and 28 in 1945) although these figures are disputed. The small Italian tank was called Lince (lynx) and was particularly appreciated and used in reconnaissance missions, patrols and operations against partisans…In the German army, they were designated as Panzerspähwagen (Pz.Sp.Wg.) Lince 202 (I).
After the end of the war in Europe, all the remaining Lancia Lince were returned to Italy. After repair and restoration, they were handed over to the police, the Carabinieri Corps and some other structures. The Lince lasted until the mid-fifties. By this time, almost all the armored vehicles had exhausted their resources and were written off as useless.
Specifications:
length : 3,24 m
width : 1,75 m
height :1,65 m
weight : 3,1 t
engine : Lancia tipo 85, V8 gasoline, 2,617 l., 60HP
Speed : 80 km / h
range : 350 km