Review: Back to the Past ARO Romania
Credit: Car-Addicts (http://www.car-addicts.com)
After the huge feeback received by the special article dedicated to Holland, we decided to make another one, honoring the brand ARO from Romania.
ARO: the beginnings of the Romanian off-road vehicles ARO (Auto Romania) The off-road vehicles producer located in Campulung Muscel Romania that has started production in 1957, the year when the first off-road vehicle was produced in Romania.
The first variant was named IMS 57 the abbreviated name of the factory producer (The Metallurgy State Department).
The beginnings were full of troubles. The Campulung Factory had been opened during war time and there were some IAR Brasov workshops dispersed in the area in the purpose of secretly functioning away of the war zone. The crude technical equipment and the lack of high qualified materials made it difficult to function. The first bodyworks were manufactured on logs of wood by the whitesmiths Grigore Negoita and Ghita Holbosan. Only one IMS 57 made it through time till nowadays. It is stored on the ground floor of the ARO S.A. building in Campulung. 154 IMS 57 pieces were produced in 1957 and the number increased to 760 in 1959. 1959 was the year the new improved M59 was launched on the market. In 1961 began the projecting and preparing program of fabrication for the car M461 whose serial production stated in 1964. The prototype had an engine conceived and made in Campulung named M 207, placing the automobile in the top world performances of the time for the off road vehicles class. This was the first model to be on export trade starting 1965.
In the competitions must be mentioned the year 1984 when the ARO piloted by Francois Sarasin climbed the podium on the third place and the second ARO crew with Romanian pilot was on the sixth place. The off road cars, equipped with Ford and Peugeot engines, were modified and prepared in France with the direct support of Campulung Factory .
It is worth reminding the efforts made by the Romanian mechanics in Campulung who prepared these cars with the minimal material resources and the image they created for ARO and implicitly for Romania. Aro also climbed the podium in the ”faraons” raly in 1985. Nowadays, Automobiles ARO are aligned to the polution standards EURO 2 and EURO 3 (diesel and gas engines)and they satisfy the requirements for active and passive road security imposed by the international settlements. During the over 45 years of industrial activity in auto field, ARO has produced aproximately 380.000 off road autovehicles 4×4, which were on the export trade in a proportion of two thirds in over 110 countries on all the 5 continents.
Credit: Car-Addicts (http://www.car-addicts.com)
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