Wanna Have A Blast? Get An Atom

Atom - A proud product by Ariel

How would you like a car with no roof, no stereo, no floor mats, no plush leather seat with warmers, no wipers (rather, no windscreens also)? Doesn’t sound ok? Then you aren’t picturing the car I have in mind. And I’m thinking about the Ariel Atom.

Guess what, Ariel is coming out with a new offering to kill 25 lucky people. It’s the Ariel Atom 500 V8. The Atom V8 500 will have a 3.0-litre engine originally sourced from US firm Hartley. However, Ariel’s extensive modifications mean it will be branded as Ariel’s own design and power is likely to be in excess of 500bhp and will have a power to weight ratio of around than 1000bhp per tonne! The car should be capable of 0-60mph in less than 3.0sec and 0-100mph in less than 6 seconds. We’re talking about probably the fastest production car! That’s almost as fast as the Bugatti Veyron for crying out loud!

The new generation face surgeon

“The Atom is user friendly and we want to preserve this in the V8, he said. “It’s got to be able to sit in traffic and anyone should be able to drive our cars, not just professional racing drivers.” says Simon Saunders, the head of Ariel. The firm previous looked at using a supercharged 2.4-litre V8 engine, but it wasn’t satisfied with the power delivery it offered. Forced induction was also considered for the 3.0-litre unit, but this too was ruled out as it would remove some of the Atom’s user-friendly characteristics.

The gearbox is a six-speed sequential unit provided by Sadev with a paddle shift probably. Other features that have pushed up the price include a ceramic exhaust system and magnesium alloy wheels. It will come with launch control and traction control settings. It will have a standard Atom aero package.

The Original Engine is lifted from a Honda Civic Type-R

Two versions of the car will be offered: Road and Race. It is expected to be priced at around 100,000 GBP. Of the 25 Atom V8s Ariel will produce, the firm have already sold 20. Somebody please donate so that ICB can get one for all us hard working souls here. Of course, we’ll let you have a ride or two as well…!

Picture Courtesy: Clinton Michael Photography

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