From The Classifieds: 2004 Ariel Atom

From The Classifieds
2004 Ariel Atom 2 Auto

The British Ariel Atom is bizarre and breathtaking in equal measures.

In the British tradition of auto outlandishness, it takes minimalism to the extreme. The two-seat, open-wheeler sports car, with its exoskeleton construction and no sign of a roof, or doors, or even a regular windscreen, looks as if it has no place on the road.

Yet the ultra-light, overpowered and appropriately-named Atom with its astronomical power-weight ratio was intended, right from its mid-1990s beginnings, to be street-legal.

The Ariel Atom was the brainchild of British designer Niki Smart and has evolved constantly over seven generations since the first one was sighted at the British International Motor Show in 1996.

Fast forward to 2004 and the specs tell us the second-generation, supercharged 2.0-litre Atom 2 produced 224kW and weighed a touch more than 450kg.

In 2005 the Atom 2 was rated by Britain’s Sunday Times as the third fastest-accelerating car on the planet, behind the Bugatti Veyron and the Ultima GTR, with a zero to 100km/h time of less than three seconds. It still rates as one of the fastest cars around Top Gear’s test track in the UK, behind McLaren’s 675 LT and Pagani’s Hayra hypercars and the single-seat BAC Mono.

With its fully adjustable, Lotus-tuned open-wheel racecar-style suspension and phenomenal power-weight ratio, it’s little wonder that the Atom is blisteringly rapid on a racetrack.

Although its footprint roughly equates that of a Mazda MX-5, it weighs less than half as much while the supercharged Honda engine, at 224kW, produces way more than double the power.

For a road experience that is more Lotus than a Lotus, it’s difficult to imagine anything else quite like the Ariel Atom.

Understandably, few find their way to Australia but here, on carsales.com.au, we have a 2004 Atom 2, complete with six-speed sequential auto transmission, which is on sale to a buyer prepared for no-compromise high-performance motoring at $168,000.
But wait. This is no ordinary Atom (if there’s such a thing).

The car on sale was developed in Australia by Jeff David of JayDee, a respected motorcycle tuner and developer who re-worked the “standard:” Atom to produce motorcycle-type acceleration combined with four-wheel grip, more than doubling the power to as much as 477kW (at the wheels) via a custom-built Honda engine. If the driver is seeking a bit less, it can be dialled down to 261kW.

If the regular thing wasn’t already spectacular enough – Jeff David wanted to start with something that was already really quick – the JayDee Atom twists the power dial into hyperdrive.

We’ll let Jeff David have a say in describing his unique Ariel Atom: “This car is easy and friendly to drive at low speed, with breathtaking performance at full throttle. With Ariel's race option steering rack it takes time to adjust to the 2.5 turns lock to lock on the road.

At the track or in a slide, the steering provides instant correction. With this car you can experience a cruising super car with the capability of addictive acceleration.
“The current motor was built in 2011 and both the engine and clutch have been freshly rebuilt in February 2016 for the new owner's peace of mind.”

Now that would be interesting vehicle to be put to the test by Top Gear (Sorry, that should have read The Grand Tour, which is Amazon Prime Video’s new series featuring Jeremy Clarkson/Richard Hammond/James May).

The very special Ariel Atom resides in the Victorian rural town of Gisborne South. It is fully road registered and will be sold with a roadworthy certificate.

See previous carsales From the Classifieds