“ An exceptional example of a very rare Alfa, it may be one of only 3 in the UK. ”
Mille Miglia eligible, with Alfa Certificato di Origine & Registro 1000 Miglia certificate applied for.
Background
If you were asked to ponder the lineage of today’s capable off-roaders, the chances are that you’d trace their WWII origin stories from the American Willys Jeep, the German Kübelwagen and the Japanese Kurogane, through to post-war icons such as the British Land Rover and Austin Champ, various Soviet-era offerings from the UAZ factory and, of course, Japan’s all-conquering Land Cruiser.

And that’s if you know your off-roader history and you’ve done a bit of research.

But how many people would factor Italy and Alfa Romeo into the mix?

We didn’t, that’s for sure.

Here’s the story.

At the end of WWII, most theatres of war, including Italy, were littered with abandoned, commandeered or broken Willys Jeeps.

The Italian Ministry of Defence realised the utility and value of such a vehicle and determined that they should produce a home-grown version.

The brief was put out to tender and both Alfa Romeo and Fiat got to work on their respective answers to it.

As it turned out, Fiat’s simpler and less expensive Campagnola machine became the Military’s preferred choice, but not before Alfa Romeo had built 2,050 of their AR vehicles.

The AR stood not for Alfa Romeo but for ‘Autovettura da Ricognizione’, or ‘Reconnaissance Car’.

2000 were designated AR51 (1951 being the year they were first manufactured) and were for military use. The other 50 were designated AR52 and were for civilian use.

The AR earned its ‘Matta’ nickname – meaning ‘mad’ – from Alfa’s then boss Antonio Alessio, who uttered the word several times when he first witnessed the car’s eagerness and aptitude for tackling preposterous obstacles and crossing seemingly uncrossable terrain.

The AR’s separate ladder chassis and clever suspension gave it real off-road ability and the adoption of a detuned version of Alfa’s 1900 twin-cam 4-cylinder engine endowed it with the power, torque and flexibility for which the unit was rightly lauded in the firm’s road cars.

The compression ratio was lowered so it could use lower-grade fuel, and it was fitted with a dry sump to avoid oil starvation as it traversed the unfeasible inclines it was designed to conquer.

It also featured a locking differential, an innovation that wouldn’t appear on a Land Rover for many years, and had independent front suspension with longitudinal torsion bar springs and rotating dampers.

In terms of technical sophistication and off-road capability, the AR51 was years ahead of its time.

Somewhat surprisingly, one of these Alfa Romeo vehicles won the 1952 Mille Miglia, albeit in the ‘Military Vehicles’ category.

No doubt much to Antonio Alessio’s satisfaction, it finished 42 minutes ahead of a Fiat Campagnola.

Overview
Thankfully for us, the vendor has described his journey to restore this vanishingly rare vehicle to Auto Italia magazine, in whose March 2026 edition - which comes with the car - you will find an in-depth write-up of the 5-year project.

He believes that this ‘Matta’ was still on active service in some branch of the Italian military until the early 1970s, although the car came with no military records to definitively determine that.

The vendor is the former owner of an engineering company and is no stranger to restoring classic vehicles.

He tracked down and bought this AR51 in Italy. He was relieved to find that the ladder chassis was absolutely sound, solid and free of rot.

He was rather less relieved to discover the scale and nature of the restoration work that would unfold over the next 5 years, a period during which he says the AR51 “kicked and fought all the way”.

He was helped immensely by being able to call upon the advice, knowledge and expertise of Enrico Checchinato, who “literally wrote the book on the Alfa Matta”.

In the vendor’s own words, “From the A-pillar back, everything is new, apart from the seats & floor (they're original), and almost everything needed to be fabricated.”

Being as rare as teeth on a particularly endangered breed of hen, the job of hunting down parts for the AR51 took a great deal of time and effort, with much of the detective work taking place on eBay.

The soft-top hood was located in Italy; the starter button with a built-in lamp, it transpired, was also fitted to the even rarer Maserati 3500, but could be had at a price; a set of new old-stock Carello trafficators, in their boxes, was found in Switzerland; the hugely complex wiring loom (double wired to facilitate use of the vehicles ‘war lights’) was replaced; the engine and gearbox were stripped down and rebuilt; and a new set of armoured-plate sills (which provide a lot of structural strength) were sourced and fitted.

Fortunately, many of the vehicle’s rubber seals were still being manufactured and were therefore readily available.

The slightly faded Alfa Romeo badge at the front has been in place since the day this vehicle left the factory.

We have driven this fabulous car and can report that it starts, goes and keeps going as you would want and expect.

There’s no power steering, so you’ll need to up your spinach intake for low-speed maneuverings.

And you’ll need to eat sacks of the stuff if you’re planning on using the clutch a lot.

We knew it was probably on the heavy side when our photographer came back on his hands and knees after shooting the car.

And the brakes? Well, it’s got some, but we’d advise getting on them a good mile or so before you’d need to in a modern car.

It’s all part of this vehicle’s unique charm.

Exterior
This vehicle was built to withstand the worst that could be thrown at it.

Everything is solid, tough, built-to-the-hilt and gloriously functional.

It’s a work horse, not a show pony, and is therefore about as atypical of Alfa Romeo as you could possibly imagine.

The bodywork is straight, true and free of any dinks, dents or damage that we can discern anywhere.

The shut-lines are consistent and even, if a little ‘military’ in their execution.

The doors swing shut with satisfying weight and heft.

All 6 wheels (four on the axles, one on the bonnet, one behind the front seats) are in fine order and are shod in Security 6.00 – 16 ML 914 rubber, all of which looks to have many miles and years of active service left in it.

The beige fabric top is unchallenged by any nicks, tears or holes that we can see.

It fits well and all of its attendant studs, screens, straps, ropes, hooks, clasps and hasps are present, correct, functional and beautifully finished.

The attention to detail on the exterior is very impressive - from the various spot-lamps, running-lights (normal or ‘war’) and trafficators to the headlamp mesh grilles, the towing rope wrapped around the front bumper, and the pick-axe and shovel attached to the rear.

The lights, lenses, badging and other exterior fixtures and fittings all appear to following the same script as the rest of the vehicle in terms of quality, condition and preservation.

And we love the Mille Miglia decal because it’s sure to get everyone scratching their heads and consulting Google.

View the car and current bid price HERE