COPPER STATE MODELS 1/35 Lancia IZM Armoured Car COPPER STATE MODELS

COPPER STATE MODELS 1/35 Lancia IZM Armoured Car (CSM-35005)

The Lancia 1Z and the Lancia 1ZM were two variations of an Italian armoured car built during World War I and which saw limited service during that war, the interwar period, and during World War II.

The Lancia 1Z/1ZM armoured car saw little combat in World War I due to the mountainous terrain in which the Italian Royal Army (Regio Esercito) fought. However, a few were deployed in the northern parts of the country where they saw combat against the Austro-Hungarian Army.

After World War I, Lancia 1Z/1ZM armoured cars were sent to North Africa and to East Africa for policing duties. A few cars were also sent to the Albanian Kingdom where they were to form the sole armoured force of the country for many years. Some Lancia 1Z/1ZM played a minor role during the Italian invasion and the occupation of Ethiopia. Some Lancia 1Z/1ZM were sent to Spain during the Spanish Civil War and were used by the Italian Corps of Volunteer Troops (Corpo Truppe Volontarie Italia, or CTV). These armoured cars were already hopelessly outdated by this point and performed poorly against the Spanish Republican forces.

A few obsolete Lancia 1Z/1ZM armoured cars were still in use with the Italian Royal Army during World War II. In 1940 and 1941, several vehicles served with the Royal Army during the East African Campaign. In some instances, operable machines were pressed into service by other Axis forces after the Armistice of Cassibile in September 1943. In the service of the forces of Nazi Germany, the vehicle was identified as the Panzerspähwagen 1ZM.