Well, today you will learn a new one: ARO ran bankrupt after a disaster-contract made by our government with an US company called Cross lander. To mention that it isn't the well known Cross lander, but an obscure company who uses this brand.

I had owned one in the past, but was fitted with the 1.4 Dacia petrol engine. It was a decent car that had not created too many problems. I have used it on and off road and I have to say that the performance of the car was not very impressive. This was no doubt caused by the weak engine and low quality parts. Someone passed a few comments on its shape, but actually I liked its rectangular lines and in general its simplicity. This is not a modern car, but with a good engine and some modern interior design will be an adequate car for hunting and difficult terrain.

These cars were for most part build under the Communist Romania so these weren't the most refined cars - however they were built to be robust. May have a look at this documentary - unfortunately in Romanian, no english translation - with the history and evolution of the ARO models https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1AQEPM46WU.

You may also search on Youtube "masina aro". A special model was also used by the ex-president Ceausescu. Of course, all vehicles sold outside Romania were slightly modified, these were also available for the Romanian market with lesser quality components, but even then, very hard to purchase by the Romanian population because of their very high prices and scarce availability (most units were exported to about 60 countries all over the world). During the communist regime, such car would basically cost as much as a medium size apartment (or double this on the used market), and would require several years on a waiting list plus a few presents here and there to key persons.