(ANSA) – ROME, MAY 05 – More than a century after the original project, the first Italian tank will come back to life. The crawler, designed in 1916 and built in only two units, will be presented on Saturday at the Parco Esposizioni in Novegro, near Milan, on the occasion of Militalia, a gathering of militaria and collectors in Italy. The replica of the Fiat 2000 was created by the National Tankers Association of Italy, the passionate restorers of vintage military vehicles from the “Raggruppamento Spa” and the “Cultori della Storia delle Arze Forze” Association.
Designed in 1916 by the engineers Giulio Cesare Cappa and Carlo Cavalli and built in just two units between 1917 and 1918, the Fiat 2000 featured three notable innovations: a revolving turret that allowed the cannon it was equipped with to fire on the entire arch of the 360 °; the separation of the engine compartment from that of the crew, an essential precaution to avoid that the exhaust gases of the engine could asphyxiate the men of the crew; a firing gas extraction system. Only two copies were produced because the end of the war, November 4, 1918, put an end to the idea of producing it in series. Unfortunately, traces of these two Fiat 2000s have been lost: one, used in Libya against the Arab rebels in the Misrata area, was then abandoned in the African sands. The second wagon, which remained in the homeland, became a monument in the Corrado Mazzoni barracks in Bologna, seat of the 3rd Tank Infantry Regiment, but then this too disappeared, perhaps during the war, to obtain precious metal. (HANDLE).
Source: Ansa
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