 It was almost like the famous British Landrover 4X4 and was the most successful Portuguese vehicle ever, before the arrival of the later UMM 4x4.The PORTARO name was an acronym of PORT for Portugal + ARO the Romanian main producer of offroad vehicles.The Portaro was a cross-country 4X4 vehicle manufactured from imported parts in Portugal starting in 1975 by the entrepreneur and industrialist man Hipólito Pires with help from business partner José Megre.