ARO 24 1972-1991 Photos, engines & full specs

Built as an offroad vehicle in former communist Romania, the Aro 24 series was a surprisingly advanced vehicle for its times.

The Romanian carmaker Aro started to build offroad vehicles in 1957 with a licensed Soviet vehicle, the GAZ 69. But the Communist Party asked the engineers to develop an original model, from front to back. Thus, the Aro 24 was born and introduced on the market in 1972. Unlike most off-road vehicles from those times, the Aro 24 featured a front independent suspension and a curved chassis, making it more comfortable on the road.

It was available in a few body versions with three or five doors or convertible. They all shared the same idea of simple, flat body panels. At the front, the carmaker installed horizontal headlights carried over from other vehicles produced in Romania to cut costs. Its front metallic front fascia featured a grille with vertical slats, like on the Gaz69. ARO installed the metallic bumper directly on the chassis's endings.

Inside, it was a simple vehicle with two seats at the front and a bench for three in the back. Depending on the version, the car featured doors in the back for the rear passengers, and all closed-body versions sported a side-hinged rear door. There was an option for side-mounted jump-seats in the trunk area, increasing the capacity of up to nine passengers.

Under the hood, the Aro24 started with a 2.5-liter gasoline engine. ARO paired it to a four-speed manual gearbox and a high and low gear transfer case for the 4x4 system. Later on, the Aro 24 received various engine versions produced by Peugeot, Toyota, Ford, or VM Motori.