AS42 Autosahariana Platoon

The Sahariana was an open bodied version of the Autoblindo armored car, adapted as a long range desert patrol vehicle. Camionetta is an Italian term used for soft vehicles modified to mount weapons, and often translated to Jeep, hence the Sahariana is often referred to as the Italian Desert Jeep.

The first unit to use the Sahariana was the Raggruppamento Sahariana AS formed in late 1942 from the first Sahariana vehicles manufactured. The 8 Saharianas in the unit were accompanied by two SPA TL-37 trucks (Camionetta AS 37) converted to mount a 47/32 gun on one and a 20/65 Breda gun on the other.

The eight Saharianas mounted the 20/65 Breda (three vehicles), 47/32 gun (one vehicle), the 20mm Solothurn anti-tank rifle (two vehicles) and 8mm Breda M37 machine-guns (one vehicle with MGs only).

This unit proved very successful combating the LRDG and four new units were raised called Compagnie Arditi Camionettisti. These units were armed with 24 Sahariana each.

The Sahariana was characterized by its large wheels, rear-mounted motor, sloped and rounded off snout on which the spare wheel was mounted, flank racks upholstered in petrol cans (ten on each side) and water containers (two each for front guards). Mounted on the rear guards were two ramps for un-bogging.

The driver was positioned centrally in front of the fighting compartment; the remaining space was used for weapon crew, weapons and provisions. During operations the front windscreen was covered by canvas to avoid reflecting sunlight.

It had a maximum speed of 80kph and a range of 800 kilometers. Approximately 300 AS-42 Saharianas were made. The vehicle was much liked by its crew and some examples survived to be used into the 1950s.

Contents:

• five one-piece resin AS42 Trucks with crew & weapon options