The Ariel Atom

[fillip]

I'm not a huge car or bike fan but I do watch Top Gear (UK T.V. proggie for the guys not familiar with it) from time to time.
This was track tested tonight and came second only to a Carrera Mk 3 (£500,000) and costs only £30,000 :blink: :h34r: Oh my god.

See the beast here - http://www.arielmotor.co.uk/04/frames.htm

According to Mr Clarkson if you can shift gears quick enough this will do 0 - 60MPH in under 3 seconds

Feast your eyes boys (and gals) :D

[Knipex]

lol


I was wondering who would post first.

Its basically a modern Super 7 (as in Westfield, Caterham etc.) Same idea but they updated the design and added a rearmounted engine. I drove something similar (it was a prototyoe home built jobbie) a few years back but I kept twisting the chassis under cornering loads.:cool:

I would love to be able to afoard one but :(

[fillip]

I knew at least 1 other person must have seen it last night! :D

It's nice and the stats are impressive but it's not the kinda thing I'd look to own. My current choice would be the new TVR Sagaris :wub: That is a nice car! and not too bad @ £50,000 (I don't have that yet but maybe in a few years ;) )

[Knipex]

My dream garage.


An Origional AC Shelby Cobra 427SC.
Jag E type (coupe and convertible)
Jag C Type
Jag D Type
Ferrari Dino
Jaguar Cougar
Shelby Mustang
Origional Corvette Stingray
Mercedes 300SL (and SLR)
Porche 550
Porche Speedster


Notice no one single modern car and only 1 Ferrari...... BUT I could find room in there for the Atom. A return to motoring as it was meant to be...

[dutchcedar]

^^ Such humble dreams, Knipex... B)


I had the experience of comparing a small block (302) Shelby Cobra replica and a Beck 550 Spyder with a 2000cc pumped VW engine.

While the Cobra does had those sexy "gotcha" lines and a much, much better sounding rumble out of the pipes, the Beck 550 is my favorite of the two. Maybe the death blow to the Cobra is that there are so friggin' many of them around here.

Back to the Atom... very interesting.

[fillip]

No Aston Martin in there Kev?

I'm too young and uninformed to have a respectable dream garage since they'd all be modern cars like the new Merc SL Roadster, SLR Mclaren, DB9, Vantage, 911 Turbo or a Marichello.

Wouldn't mind a Mclaren F1 supercar either :p

I also like the look of the AC Cobra, XJ220, TVR Sagaris as previously mentioned and a fully kitted up Supra.

Not much chance of getting most of those I s'pose but you never know.

[Darv]

I sooo want one of those Atoms. Looks like great fun :lol:


My dream car is an Aston Martin, other than that I'm not too bothered but it is my aim to own an Aston at some point.

[scopEDog]

I still think one of the most beautiful cars of all time would be the Miura (http://next.web-cars.com/miura_img/blue_a.jpg)
That atom has an awesome looking frame, very interesting indeed..

[dutchcedar]

Ah, my dreams are simple... besides a '29 Ford on '32 rails... I would like a '57-'62 300SL roadster...

http://www.motorbase.com/pictures/contributions/991202//std_1957_mercedes-benz_300_sl_cabriolet.jpg

[Knipex]

Of the Austin Martins the only ones I would put in there are the DB5 and the DB4GT.

Of course all those cars would be too precious to drive every day so I would need a DB9 to go to the shops :p .

The McLaren F1 all the new Ferrari's, etc depend on electronics to overcome the shortcomings in their chassis designs (and hte driver of course). All the cars on my list depend on raw mechanics to go round bends.. No electronics and nothing to save you if you make a mistake.

Mabey thats why the called the cobra the Widow maker.............

Dutch I dont know about where you are from but I have never seen a genuine cobra up close and only 2 replicas. Both the replics I saw were in the States and they were to be honest poor.

Of all the Replicas I have read about and seen pictures of the two that excite me are.

The Dax Tojerio (The origional cobra chassis was designed by John Tojerio and he is now technical drector with Dax ) www.daxcars.co.uk (http://www.daxcars.co.uk)

AK427 Beautifull car with the best Fibreglass body on the market. Also more a rad car than track racer.

Neither are 100% replicas but rather a development of the origional car while remaining faithfull to the origional concept.

Dax have developed a De Dion rear suspension and a camber compensation front suspension setup with a bias towards track racing. There body has variations from the origional (including external hinges on the trunk lid)

AK on the other hand have a more origional body shape and a slighly more civilised car (still frightening by all accounts:D ) www.aksportscars.com (http://www.aksportscars.com)

[dutchcedar]

^^ I live just north of Yosemite National Park (about 30 miles) in Northern California. Its a small mountain neighborhood where you can't see your neighbor's homes through the trees very easily. B)


Anyway, there are two Cobra replicas within a couple blocks from us (one has a "re-pop" aluminum body and a 427 SOHC) and probably a dozen or more "on the hill". The 302 Cobra replica belongs to one of my clients. They're really quite popular up here because they are easy to build, easy to license and obviously fun to drive in the hills. Our roads are all winding and pretty much devoid of police.

In these parts there are oodles and oodles of hot-rods, sports cars, classic cars, antiques, custom bikes, etc.

To make it even more fun, in the Summer, our town is a popular place for out-of-town car clubs, bike clubs, etc. to gather at. Its not uncommon to see a few dozen cars of the same type and a gaggle of a couple hundred choppers is a common sight.

My "toy" is a '73 2 liter Porsche 914. I bought it for autocrossing about 15 years ago. Its lowered, has stiffer springs, 50 series tires and some other "schmoke-'em" goodies. But just as soon as our house addition is completed, it'll be hot rod build time for me... can't wait. B)

p.s. about DAX... I've always been a fan of the Lotus Super 7 repops. Heck, I've always been a Chapman fan... had an Elan +2S in my "early days"... <_<

Dutch's Lotus Elan +2S (this was about 1975)...
http://www.amdreview.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=118819

[Knipex]

^^ p.s. about DAX... I've always been a fan of the Lotus Super 7 repops. Heck, I've always been a Chapman fan... had an Elan +2S in my "early days"... <_<

Dutch's Lotus Elan +2S (this was about 1975)...

Lotus 7's. You should have said. I would have given you a spin in mine.:D

www.westfieldsportscars.co.uk (http://www.westfieldsportscars.co.uk)

Or if you preffer the origional I can organise a spin in one of these for you.

http://www.caterham.co.uk/

[dutchcedar]

^^ :rant: Don't ask me why, but from what I hear from friends around here, its easy to license a Cobra replica, but very difficult to license any of the Lotus repops.


Not that I plan to, but if I were to build a "kit car", it would be a Beck 550 Spyder or one of the Lotus ones.

And yah, I remember your car... B)

[Knipex]

The problem in the states is the minimum weight. No lotus 7 will meet minimum requirement. Unless.......... You put a big V8 in it... :D


(info from of a buddy in Detroit)

[zer0]

yah i guess im too young to have a decent grauge but i can say that my dad had a tryumph when he was younger but some drunk crashed in to it while it was sitting in his driveway.

my grage would be simple
nissan skyline
shelby cobra

only two cars i can think of that i would dream of if i dreamed of cars.

[Duffman]

Thats an awsome car, 220hp out of that little vtech would seriously haul major ass.

The list of car wants is small.

Buick Grand National GNX
Dodge Superbird
Lotus Elise (new one with the yota engine)
70's GMC Seirra Custom
Honda S2000


My current car: 94 Nissan Pathfinder <_<

[Pug]

Apparently the Top Gear piece on the Ariel Atom was repeated the other night as part of a 'Best of' from the year.

I was chatting on the phone last night (for about 3 hours) to a mate and he mentioned it too, together with the fact that they're based in Crewkerne, near where I lived for a while in Somerset (where he still is).

They have big ties with Honda over it apparently, who are part of a mutual project he's involved with (and I'm in as a hardware consultant on... ;) :h34r: )
He's going to try and get me a play in one come summer. :D

[fillip]

He's going to try and get me a play in one come summer. :D
Git. http://wizdforums.co.uk/images/smilies/dry.gif

[Starbuck3733T]

Awwww Yeahhhh.

[Da_Rude_Baboon]

I thought the Arial Atom came second only too the Ferrari Enzo?

Just shows you what my Type-R could do if it went to the gym to loose some weight and stiffen itself up! :lol: I'm surprised it took that long to appear on Top-Gear as its been in car mags for a while now. If i had the cash i think i would get one for some summer fun but i would invest in a crash helmet instead of eating bugs.

Zer0 my m8s bro has a Skyline GTR tuned to 1100BHP and stripped down to 1100Kg's. Its (according to red line magazine) the only car in the UK with a 1:1 power to weight ratio. It hasnt been on a track long enough to test its top speed yet but they reckon it will do the quarter mile in 7-8 seconds. :eek:

[Starbuck3733T]

Zer0 my m8s bro has a Skyline GTR tuned to 1100BHP and stripped down to 1100Kg's. Its (according to red line magazine) the only car in the UK with a 1:1 power to weight ratio. It hasnt been on a track long enough to test its top speed yet but they reckon it will do the quarter mile in 7-8 seconds. :eek:

I am coming to scotland and I want a ride!!!!

[Da_Rude_Baboon]

lol i think theres a long queue! Its more a drag racer than anything else now as you cant buy, or he cant find, diffs that can take the strain of turning. He got racing ones imported from Japan but they blew at the last event he was at.

That cars a serious cash black hole. He was £9000 for a new gearbox and the fuel it uses costs over £8 a litre and it uses 4 litres a minute when accelerating. I will see if i can find some pics on the net.

:edit: Pics from this years TOTB where he 'only' had 800Bhp.

http://www.crash.net/pictures/view/101823.jpg

engine bay. (i think its his)

http://www.crash.net/pictures/view/101820.jpg

Link to article on the event

http://www.crash.net/uk/en/news_view.asp?cid=80&nid=97387

and a small quote.

Early on Redline TOTBII veteran Keith Cowie suffered excruciating bad luck in his big power Project Z when the record breaking R32 blew its front diff on Keith's very first launch of the day, never giving Keith a chance to unleash its full potential. Last year Keith shocked the modifying world to its foundations after clocking the UK's first sub-10 second run in a road-legal car. The 9.95 second Project Z had about 100bhp more than it did at Redline TOTBII and this year was set for even greater deeds.

Despite this crippling blow Keith didn't say die and had the car's mechanics strip the transmission, converting it into two wheel drive. Keith fought on valiantly, but without 4WD the car struggled to get traction and was wheel spinning in all first four gears. Even with this devastating setback Keith still managed a 12.61 @ 120mph quarter mile and knocked up a staggering top speed of 185.2mph. Surely the only car ever to compete simultaneously as both a 4WD and RWD in the very same day. One of Redline TOTBIII's true heroes.

[Da_Rude_Baboon]

i just found 2 movies too. :cool:

His GTR versus a modified Civic Type-R in the quarter mile, rather amusing!

http://www.totb.co.uk/images/movies/keith_cowie__9_1-4_mile_at_totbii.wmv

This is what 200mph looks like!

http://www.totb.co.uk/images/movies/keith_cowie_top_speed_at_totbii.wmv

And please note the car now has 300bhp more power and is lighter! :eek:

[Pug]

Git. http://wizdforums.co.uk/images/smilies/dry.gif
:D

Actually, I'm thinking the same about Keith ^^^ :o
Waoooowza!:cool:
Lol @ smoking that civic tho! :lol:

[scopEDog]

Sweet moses i just saw the top gear episode with the atom :eek:

[Pug]

Sweet moses i just saw the top gear episode with the atom :eek:
Thus spake the man with an RX8... you know it's good. :cool:

:D

[fivecheebs]

Well ive just got around to watching this too, simply amazing.

/me tries to imagine pugs face during atom style face remodling

lucky git :D

BTW i have a copy of this on my webspace under a mates domain.... I'll post the link if im alowed (am i?) of if you want to see it PM me and ill furnish you with it