Zebrano Z100-033 Laffly 80 AM French armored car

The Laffly 80 AM (another designation: Laffly AMD 80) was a French armored car from the interwar period and World War II. The first prototypes of the car were built in 1933, and small serial production took place in 1933-1935. About 25-30 cars of this type were created in its course. The vehicle was about 5.5 meters long with a width of 2.2 meters. The drive was provided by a single engine Laffly with a capacity of 80 HP. The armament consisted of two machine guns: the 13.2 mm Hotchkiss model 1929 and the 7.5 mm Chatellerault MAC31. The presented vehicle was a development of another Laffly armored car - the 50 AM model. First of all, the new car uses a different chassis and engine, which clearly and positively influenced the performance as well as the traction properties of the armored car. The vehicle also received a completely new turret, as well as other main weapons. The Laffly 80 AM was replaced relatively quickly in the metropolis by a much more modern vehicle (Panhard 178), but continued its service in the French colonies in North Africa. This is where the Laffly 80 AM vehicles de facto passed their baptism of fire in a major operation, taking part in the fighting in Tunisia in 1943.