With the headlights, they may be armoured covers to protect the lenses when in action, or possibly the headlights reversed again to protect them (i've seen this on British WW1 lorries)
Just a thought about the conical covers over the headlights - would the armoured car have had carbide lamps? The conical covers would simply be protective covers
Isotta-Fraschini RM of 1911 vintage. Used in Italy's war in Lybia.
Isotta Fraschini RM.
Only one was built (in 1913, it was not used in Libya).
In Libya only two A.MI.Co Fiats 1912 were used in the final days of Italo-Turkish war (probably first time when armoured cars were used in war - for column escort, maybe against airships and airplanes, rather not for real combat).
Isotta Fraschini was captured by Austrians in 1917 (however it is often confused with a Bianchi armoured car by Austrian sources which state that Austro-Hungarian army captured Bianchi, but in fact it was Isotta Fraschini - I have no doubt after watching photos. Three Bianchi armoured cars were produced and one of them looked similar to Isotta Fraschini, that's why Austrians confuse them).
In August 1913, the 'Motorwelt' magazine (Berlin/Vienna) published two photographs of the vehicle, claiming in the captions that it had recently been used in the Tripolis campaign.
In August 1913, the 'Motorwelt' magazine (Berlin/Vienna) published two photographs of the vehicle, claiming in the captions that it had recently been used in the Tripolis campaign.
Interesting, but maybe this was a mistake made by journalists from that magazine.
Information I wrote in my previous post is from the book by expert on Italian armour - Nicola Pignato (who sadly passed away a few years ago). He stated that in Libya only those two Fiats were used and that some source state that one of Bianchi armoured cars was also there (but N. Pignato found no evidence). Isotta Fraschini was not sent overseas for sure and it was built in 1913 (after the war - and N. Pignato wrote he found documents and he is sure about that), not in 1911 (as B.T. White and E. Bartholomew state in their books). So Isotta Fraschini was not the first Italian armoured car - Fiats were built a year before. When it comes to Italian armoured vehicles I simply believe Nicola Pignato.
Italian and Russian Isotta Fraschini are two different vehicles.
