38/R
The Fiat SPA-38R or just SPA 38R is a light military trucks produced in Italy and used by Italy and France during World War II.
The 38R was born from the need of the Regio Esercito to replace the old SPA 25C truck.
In 1933 the Società Piemontese Automobili (SPA), a Fiat-controlled brand specialized in the production of trucks, presented two models, the Fiat-SPA 38R with water cooling and the Fiat-SPA 36R with air cooling.
The two models were adopted by the Regio Esercito in 1935 and sent to Italian Libya in '37 and in Eastern Africa in '38, where problems in off-road march led to a redesign of the suspensions.
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The debut of the SPA 38R war took place in the Spanish Civil War with the Corps Volunteer Troops, where he was employed as a troop transport and towing of the 65/17 gun Mod. 1908/1913 and where such demonstration of reliability and robustness at the expense of consumption.
In the spring of 1940, France, as part of the rearmament in view of the imminent clash with Nazi Germany, ordered 500 specimens, 400 of which actually delivered before Italy's declaration of war against France itself.
The production for the Regio Esercito continued throughout the duration of the war, in both standard and Colonial and in many settings, some of which were also endorsed by the Royal Air Force.
Delivered before the war to the Quick and Motorized Divisions, it was profitably employed on all fronts, especially on the Russian side.
After the war the production continued with the SPA version 38R / 45, both civil and military, featuring a completely closed metal cabin, electric starter and a single tank.
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