Alfa Romeo - Alfa Romeo AR51
The Alfa Romeo 1900M AR51, as the factory called this model, is also known by its nickname Matta. A light weight 4x4, the engine used was the then current 4 cylinder twin overhead cam 1900 as used in Alfa Romeo road cars but, detuned with lowered 7:1 compression ratio giving 64bhp. This project was at the request Italys Ministry of Defence to be for Military use, the prototype of which was finalised in 1951. AR stood for Autovettura da Ricognizione and the 51 was the date, 1951. Some 2,000 of these vehicles were supplied to the Italian military with a small handful (perhaps 50 units) for agricultural and civilian use called the AR52, making a grand total of 2050 produced, with production ending in 1954.
1900M AR51 Matta original tyre size was 6.40x16 Artiglio or off road type tread pattern - Artiglio translates to "Claw" so we are talking an M+S type tread pattern. The ideal tyre toady for the AR51, giving it the best handling possible, would be our radial 205R16 tyre - see full details at the link below:
