I’ve become infatuated with the Ariel Atom. I am “in lust” with a machine. I want it, and badly - I’ve considered selling my house and moving into a $350/mo single room rental. If I had a wife, I would probably consider renting her out as well. No, not seriously, I’m just trying to get a point across. So what happens if one of these days I actually have enough dough to buy one? This would probably end up being my every-day car, which brings us to my question:
In your opinion, is this a car that could be comfortable to drive every day, or would you get tired of the rawness of it all? Moreover, has anyone been able to find verifiable measurement for deck clearance? I’ve seen figures from 1 inch to 10 centimeters - can I seriously plan on driving that around town?
In case you aren’t familiar with it already, at $40k, the Atom is by far the most affordable car that could reasonably compete for the title of “World’s Fastest.” For more information and pictures visit http://www.arielatom.com.
Disclaimer: I am not purporting that $40k is “affordable,” only that it is more so than the competition, which generally lies between $200k and $2M. All figures are in USD.
As long as the clearances are enough to get over the speed bumps and other obstructions, I don’t see why it would be any less practical than the average motorcycle. That said, it would probably be a bit more useful than a motorcycle as it would have a little more carrying capacity and the traction in snow, ice, and corners would be much better.
I can’t see the joy of driving that in bad weather, though. Warm weather, however, and that puppy would no doubt be a blast to drive. What you might do is check the kitcar mags and see if someone’s got something which looks similar to that and is significantly cheaper. That way, on nice days, you can drive the funwagon, and on crappy days, you can drive something which while not as fun, will at least keep you warm and dry.
Panoz used to have a model which looked similar to that, but in checking their website, it seems they no longer make them. The one problem with “boutique” manufacturers like Ariel is that they quite often don’t have a long lifespan, so you could have trouble finding certain parts if they go under.
Well for between 10 and 20 grand LESS you can have one of these. It was the 2nd fastest car 0-60 that Car and Driver road tested in 2004. 0-60 in 3.6 seconds. Only the Ferrari Enzo beat it. Cite. it also has a trunk. There are several owners that use these as daily drivers. One guy has over 200,000 miles on his.
Liberal, you like it, don’t you? Rick, I love that car you showed us. As a matter of fact, I think it might be the most beautiful car ever (I personally would chop off the rollbar). I’m inclined to believe it’s on quite a different scale as far as handling, however, especially with that horrendous truck-like gear-shifter. It also weighs twice as much as the Atom. Still, a very interesting option. Beautiful. Certainly the most beautiful American car ever, no doubt about that! I’d love to drive one someday.
If anyone has reliable figures for the ground clearance of the Atom, I would really appreciate it. Like I mentioned before, most places have no spec for clearance, and the few places I could find all have different numbers!
I dunno though, I had an wicked lot of fun driving my 1991 Miata tonight… Only 100 bhp and I made the tires squeal in 3rd gear at 45mph. Yeah I was in the redline rpm but so what??
The only 'Merkin thing about that design is under the hood. As for handling, if you’re willing to spend the money, you can get the car to handle any way you want. If you really want to have some fun, do what Carroll Shelby and Bill Cosby did and have a 427 with twin superchargers stuffed under the hood. :eek:
As for the clearance figures, have you tried contacting the manufacturer to see what they say?
Quite right, Tuckerfan, I had always thought of the Cobra as the Ford Shelby Mustang Cobra. Didn’t know it was an English design. I suppose I could bug the manufacturer, but I was feeling a bit put-off. They have a six month backlog of orders, what interest could they have in answering a question like that from me? But as you suggest, I will ask tomorrow.
Twin superchargers, huh? Do you want me to soil my underpants, is that what you want??
Dude, Shelby only built two like that, and I doubt that many folks have done the same with their kit versions. It’d be worth some serious bank, enough to cover the costs of having to have the poop cleaned out of your underoos.
It is lovely that is for sure. As far as the handling go, the car that Car and Driver tested pulled 1.0G on the skid pad with street tires. That car they tested is a daily driver. I don’t recall off the top of my head what the Atom pulls in a skid pad, but it isn’t gonna be much more than that. Never forget that Carroll Shelby invented four wheel steering. You steered the front two with your arms, you steered the rear two with your right foot.
Tuckerfan The Factory five car is a very faithful replica of the original 427 MKIII Cobra. The MKIII was truly a Angelo-American effort with the frame design done by Ford in Dearborn (read your cite). The MKIII was not an AC Ace with a huge motor stuffed in it. It was a whole new car.
Ah. I have only a passing interest in the Cobras (they being “belly button” kitcars, IMHO) so I wasn’t familiar with all the variants. Shelby is, however, a true automotive genius. He, Harry Miller, Smokey Yunick, and Yenko are all (or were) absolute masters at squeezing performance out of engines. Those guys could probably hop up a lawnmower engine so that it could beat a top of the line 'Vette while using little more than standard parts.
