Italian Fiat 3000 Tank

[David]

Italy was not among the first to enter the game of armoured vehicles, which is no surprise, considering that much of that countries fighting was done in the alpine regions on the border to Austria-Hungary. But with that in mind, the Italian effort is still quite impressive. In 1917 the Italians started developing their own tank, the Fiat 2000, which - by chance and not by design - came out as a A7V-clone, although better in performance than it's teutonic counterpart.

The Italians also imported a small number tanks from France: the Schneider CA.1 and the Renault FT17. They soon realized that the Schneider was a dud, and instead decided to manufacture a simple copy of the FT17. In the process of setting up the production - done by FIAT, assisted by Ansaldo and Breda -, the tank was given a large number of improvements and redesigns, and out came something that was actually better than the vehicle it started out to copy!
This video comes courtesy of Philtydirtyanimal:

Among the improvements was a double barreled 6.5mm MG and a more powerful motor mounted in a lower, traverse position. This and the fact that it was lighter than the FT17 resulted in, among other things, a much improved speed. (It was three times as fast as the FT17.) It is safe to say that during the early 20-ies the FIAT 3000 was one of the very best tank in the world.
All the extensive redesigns resulted in many delays, which led to that the first prototype was not completed until 1920, with the first tanks entering service not until 1923. But the FIAT 3000 then soldiered on in both the Abyssinan and Libyan wars, but by then it had been upgunned and had it's suspension much improved. The last FIAT:s were used in the fighting in Sicily in 1943, but only as a stopgap measure, as by then it was obsolete. But it's long service is a testimony to the soundness of the design.