The prototype pf the L6/40 had been finished in 1938, as well as the following year the series model ended up being ready. The hull ended up being copied following the preceding L3/33 and the brand new machine was running on an SPA 18D 70 cv engine which gave it a maximum rate of 42 Km/hr. It absolutely was armed with a Breda 20mm canon and an enormous machinegun. Even though it could already be looked at obsolete as soon as it went into production, it had been nevertheless used in Africa, Russia, the Balkans and in Italy. Many were captured by the Germans following the armistice and utilized straight, or given by, the Italian Social Republic.