ARO

ARO (short for Auto Romania) was an off-road vehicle manufacturer located in Câmpulung-Muscel, Romania.

Production of ARO vehicles have restarted under the aegis of a Czech company called Auto Max Czech (AMC).

For a short while, Daihatsu-powered AROs were produced in Spain and Portugal under the brands Hisparo and Portaro, respectively.

History

The beginning

ARO manufactured over 375,000 vehicles, 2/3 of which were exported to some 110 countries on five continents (before 1989 about 90% of the ARO production was exported). AROs were also produced in Brazil, Italy, and Portugal.

Production started in 1957 with the IMS-57, which was the first model of the IMS Series, produced under a GAZ-69 license. In 1959 the IMS-57 model was replaced by the M59, followed by a new model in 1964 called the M461. Though its styling and design were based on its predecessors', the M461 had clearly distinguishable features also boasting fit and finish improvements and redesigned mechanics.

In 1972 ARO successfully launched a ground-up redesign as their new family of models, the 24 Series which eventually included many models and configurations. The ARO 24 Series got a "little brother" in 1980, the 10 Series, also produced in many body trims with different engines and in both 4x2 and 4x4 variants.

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