1953 ALFA ROMEO AR51 MATTA EX POLICE CAR, VERY RARE MATCHING NUMBERS CAR!

1953 Alfa Romeo AR51 MATTA Additional Info:

For sale an extremely rare ALFA ROMEO AR51 (1900M), a very good example of the car better known as "MATTA" (crazy in Italian). Conceived on request of the Italian Ministry of Defensein order to have a modern replacement for the ubiquitous Willys MBthe Alfa AR51 (AR stands for Autovettura da Ricognizione modello 1951, Reconaissance Car, model year 1951) revealed itself as a very sophisticated vehicle, its engine (type 1307) a 1884 cc four cylinder twin cam derived from that used on 1900 saloons and GTs (type 1306)and here detuned at 65 HP, dry sump lubrication, indipendent front suspension with torsion bars, a low range transfer box enabling it to climb on 120% slopes. A very good car, a brilliant technical excercise,but very expensive to builtso only 2054 cars were handbuilt (yes, no production line) at the Alfa old aero engine factory at Pomigliano d'Arco near Naplesfrom 1952 to 1954; less than 500 were assigned to the Police, mainly at the various Reparti Celere (rapid intervention units) as in this case. This Matta is chassis#1374 and left the factory in 1953 with engine #1462, the same unit it still has today, a very rare case of matching numbers vehicle. It was kept by the Ministry of Interior until 1979, then was sold on the market gtting the civilian registration GR 173393; the original maroon livery used by the Italian Police during the Fifties was covered by a questionable metallic burgundy paint which the carsports still today (the interior, also originally maroon, was sprayed in grey). In its civilian life the car saw very limited and careful use by its two registered owners (as showed by the valid logbook): in fact it runs and drivesvery well(an electric fuel pump has replaced the mechanical type), the engine pulls smoothly without any smoke, transmission ok, no steering or suspension play; the chassis is absolutely straight and sound, the body is sound too with only some surface rust in limited areas (of course it needs a respray). The ugly rollover bar showed in some picture has now desappeared and the wiper motors and arms are now in place again alongside the original Ulpio type hook towbar, the spare wheel, jack, basic tool kit and copies of owner's, workshop and parts manuals.This car is located near Turin and have to be collected locally, shipping can be arranged easily by myself.