- Yes
- Maybe
- No
History.
The Lancia Ro was a heavy truck produced by Lancia Veicoli Industriali essentially for military use. In the early 1930s Vincenzo Lancia had purchased the manufacturing license for a Diesel engine manufactured by the German company Junkers, of aeronautical origin and therefore particularly light, compact and above all with less consumption than contemporary engines. A new heavy truck was equipped with this engine in 1933, called Progetto 264 by the manufacturer, officially Lancia Ro. It is also available in the grey-green NM (NaftaMilitare) version. Until 1938 this diesel version was produced in 3056 units for the Royal Army and 429 for the civilian market. The truck was a great success with the Italian Army and its powerful successor, the Lancia 3Ro, was also very successful. For war reasons, various Italian trucks were modified on site by the workshops. Various were armed with the most varied cannons, machine guns and the like, and thus the Autocannons were born, even if they were part of the unregulated material of the Royal Army. These vehicles achieved good success among their units as they allowed artillery pieces to be quickly brought to the battlefield, even if they were poorly protected from possible enemy counterattacks. One of these autocannons was a Lancia Ro (as you might guess) on which a 47/32 Mod.35 piece was mounted. The cannon was placed on a turntable in the bed of the truck, and the vehicle was exceptionally supplied to the Italian fast infantry known as Bersaglieri (8° Reggimento), so there would be a single crew for the vehicle (another exemplar was also made by normal infantry). It is not known what happened to the vehicle although it was probably destroyed during a firefight with Commonwealth troops, but despite this it remains a fairly famous vehicle of the autocannon series.
Armaments and propulsion.
The engine was the Junker 3-cylinder 6-piston opposed version with a displacement of 4,771 cm³. It produced 95 HP at 1,500 rpm (produced under license as the Lancia Tipo 90) which allowed the vehicle to reach a modest top speed of 32 km/h. On the other hand, the vehicle could carry a large quantity of ammunition for the 47/32 Mod.35 cannon as well as a good number of men as crew.
Specifications.
Spoiler
Crew: 7
Length: 6.41 m
Width: 2.20 m
Height: 2.90
Weight: 6,000 kg (crew, weapon and ammunition included)
Fuel capacity: 95 l
Engine: 2-cylinder Lancia Tipo 89 diesel under license from Junkers, 3181 cm³, 64 hp at 1500 rpm
Traction: 4x2
Maximum speed: 32 km/h
Autonomy: 300 km
Maximum slope: 25%
Armament: 1x 47/32 Mod.35 on turntable rotatable by approximately 200°
Pictures and drawnings.
Sources.
Spoiler
Lancia 3Ro - Tank Encyclopedia
Lancia Ro - Wikipedia
LA MECCANIZZAZIONE DELL'ESERCITO FINO AL 1943 tomo II -parte 2 by Biblioteca Militare - Issuu
47/32 Mod. 1935 - Wikipedia
El-alamein - La Guerra all'orizzonte
Qattara - Documenti e Testimonianze - Home Page
Motore Lancia-Junkers tipo 89 - Lancia Ro