Comments on: Funsafe at any speed!

Funsafe at any speed!

furtive — Fri, 13 May 2005 19:02:33 -0800

The Ariel Atom is a pretty nifty car. No doors, no screen, no roof. Just a frame and the bare minimum to get you from 0 to 60mph in 2.9 seconds. This video review of the Atom is worth it just to see the driver's face get distorted a little more than three minutes into it.

By: I EAT TAPES

I EAT TAPES — Fri, 13 May 2005 19:14:14 -0800

I EAT ... Uh, I gotta have one.

By: zeoslap

zeoslap — Fri, 13 May 2005 20:09:51 -0800

Reminds me of the Rocket by Weismann whose owners include Bill Gates and George Harrison (till he passed away of course)

By: cows of industry

cows of industry — Fri, 13 May 2005 20:14:40 -0800

I need one of these...

By: tss

tss — Fri, 13 May 2005 20:17:31 -0800

"My epiglottis is full of bees!"

By: davy

davy — Fri, 13 May 2005 20:29:00 -0800

So there'd be no place to put any groceries, and my glasses would be so quickly gunked up with splattered bugs that I'd run into a Dodge Caravan on the first trip around the freeway. Trying to use this a real car would be a stupid idea. It's a big step backwards.

By: furtive

furtive — Fri, 13 May 2005 20:30:51 -0800

davy: it's got a trunk under the hood with enough room for a bag of chips minus the air.

By: davy

davy — Fri, 13 May 2005 20:31:58 -0800

Trying to use this a real car would be a stupid idea. Er, as would trying to use it AS one. And typing when I'm drowsy. Put a windscreen and a boot on this Atom thing and I'll take it as a gift though; I bet it gets really nifty petrol mileage.

By: Josh Zhixel

Josh Zhixel — Fri, 13 May 2005 20:38:20 -0800

Holy shit, I don't think anybody is planning to use it as a drive-to-work-pick-up-the-kids real car, davy. Geez.

By: effwerd

effwerd — Fri, 13 May 2005 20:46:34 -0800

It's got a boot. And you could fit a small infant in there.

By: Civil_Disobedient

Civil_Disobedient — Fri, 13 May 2005 21:22:12 -0800

How much for that unfinished car? Wow, only $67,200 GBP. Sold! /$124,262.65 USD

By: c13

c13 — Fri, 13 May 2005 21:44:07 -0800

I have a need. A need for speed. CD, you can buy a used one for about 15k GBP.

By: c13

c13 — Fri, 13 May 2005 21:45:10 -0800

Also, what the hell is a "boot"?

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 13 May 2005 21:48:09 -0800

Not enough room for the chicks, man. A car like that is gonna be a chick magnet. I note it's got a Honda four-banger in it.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 13 May 2005 21:49:11 -0800

c13, a "boot" is British-speak for a "rubber." As in, you know, rubber boots. Silly Cockney rhyming slang and all that.

By: Civil_Disobedient

Civil_Disobedient — Fri, 13 May 2005 22:06:45 -0800

CD, you can buy a used one for about 15k GBP Damn, that's some depreciation! Oh, and boot == trunk, but f^3's etimology is funnier, in the sexual sense.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 13 May 2005 22:31:56 -0800

Well, trunk, then. It does kinda look like one when it's flaccid. Having watched the video, I want one.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 13 May 2005 22:33:20 -0800

Er, !! I mean, I want an Ariel car, not the elephantile underwear! Nor an actual elephant's trunk, another penis, or even an elephant penis. Car only, thank you.

By: reflection

reflection — Fri, 13 May 2005 22:51:59 -0800

damn that thing is awesome

By: Kwantsar

Kwantsar — Sat, 14 May 2005 00:17:43 -0800

Slamming that little rocket into a wall would be a pretty good way to meet one's maker. "Good" as in "fucking fantastic," that is.

By: peacay

peacay — Sat, 14 May 2005 02:21:38 -0800

I want a pneumatic face lift too.

By: grahamspankee

grahamspankee — Sat, 14 May 2005 04:13:24 -0800

The Atom is just one of what seems to be a peculiarly British obsession with creating small, relatively cheap, fast cars that handle like the souped-up go-karts they really are. It's not about power or speed really - a top-end Porsche will have a much higher top speed and a far more powerful engine - it's all about the handling. On cars like this there's no driver aids to muffle to hide the feel of the road and the car. As Ariel say "If it doesn't need it, it hasn't got it." I have the great joy of owning one of the slightly more luxurious examples of this trend. Perhaps not the safest place to be in an accident, but after five years I still smile every time I'm driving it.

By: kaemaril

kaemaril — Sat, 14 May 2005 05:41:35 -0800

"In a word, gobsmacking!" - a Times Online review by Jeremy Clarkson :)

By: furtive

furtive — Sat, 14 May 2005 08:12:09 -0800

On a similar bend here in Canada (also available in the USA) is the T-Rex...it has very similar dimensions except that there is only one double-wide rear wheel. It requires a motorcycle license (which also means a helmet) but the cockpit seats two side by side. The exoskeleton isn't nearly as nice as the Atom though.

By: mrplab

mrplab — Sat, 14 May 2005 08:25:39 -0800

"It feels like my brains are being sucked out."

By: jmgorman

jmgorman — Sat, 14 May 2005 08:45:56 -0800

So, if about 30 of us put in 500 quid each, we can buy a used one. Paint it blue. If some one can provide a garage, you can drive it too. I want to drive that soooo bad.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Sat, 14 May 2005 09:42:08 -0800

I wonder if the Areil could be imported to Canada, and if it could be licensed here. I have several perfect roads -- top-rated for motorcycles -- in my immediate area, that this little car would love to drive.

By: emdog

emdog — Sat, 14 May 2005 11:33:51 -0800

go a buy street legal, vw dune buggy and you get a wind screen, roll-cage, four seats/storage(if you want), the same speed(wheelies) AND the option to go off road for nowhere near that price tag. whoa, i just noticed the currency conversion! you could buy 5 vw buggies/variety of configs and have much more fun and bang for the buck.

By: delmoi

delmoi — Sat, 14 May 2005 15:23:49 -0800

Man, that thing has zero protection in a rollover situation. (I mean, it'd be hard to roll, but still). It looks like it's a cross between an F1-car and a 4 wheel motorcycle. And check out this thing. An atv powered by the same angine in a subaru wrx...

By: crunchland

crunchland — Sat, 14 May 2005 15:29:12 -0800

I guess I'm officially an old fogy, because I looked at that video and didn't think "I need one of those." Instead, I thought "that guy should really be wearing a helmet." Shoot me now.

By: delmoi

delmoi — Sat, 14 May 2005 15:32:46 -0800

Actualy the Jeremy Clarkson review that was linked by kaemaril, it's only 24k pounds. Easily aquireable by a member of the middle class.

By: eriko

eriko — Sat, 14 May 2005 16:09:37 -0800

Man, that thing has zero protection in a rollover situation. Nope -- note how large the frame around the high-mount center air intake is? There's a reason for that. If you're wearing a helmet, you'd probably walk away from a rollover -- indeed, because of the wide wheel stance, you'll probably flip a few times, then land on the wheels, if not, the frame around the air intake will hold the car up enough to keep from crushing you. Without a helmet, you'd still have a good chance of living, but the road rash would suck bad. You'd need new trousers, mind you, but you'd live. Really, what is this car? It is "Let's take the Mazda Miata to the extreme endpoint." Whereas the Miata is a barely useful car that does 135 that's a lot of fun to drive, this is a car that does 135 that's incredibly fun to drive -- and is otherwise useless. Which, hey, is cool by me. Not my cup of tea, but we all have our toys.

By: Civil_Disobedient

Civil_Disobedient — Sat, 14 May 2005 18:20:47 -0800

Whereas the Miata is a barely useful car that does 135 that's a lot of fun to drive Define barely.

By: tommasz

tommasz — Sat, 14 May 2005 18:21:32 -0800

It's been a long time since I had a vehicle that put a smile on my face when I drove it. I want one. Now.

By: emdog

emdog — Sat, 14 May 2005 18:33:38 -0800

the frame around the air intake will hold the car up enough to keep from crushing you nope; 1st impact is what counts, not just laying on it's 'top'. draw a line from the side rail to the top of the roll bar/intake. helmet or not, you'd sustain serious head trauma and most likely a broken neck.

By: uncanny hengeman

uncanny hengeman — Sun, 15 May 2005 08:14:02 -0800

Some of the reviews on this page are glowing to say the least. I want one, and I'm not really into cars that much at all! 'Over the years I've flown F15 fighters, done power slides in airboats, straffed the desert from helicopter gunships, but for sheer excitement this thing is off the scale.' 'My drive in the new Atom 2 was the most thrilling and elating time I have had in a road car in all the years that I have been writing this column. For providing limitless sensations of pure propulsion and of communication with a machine the Atom 2 offers the nearest experience on earth to a bike that has been crossed with a single seater racing car... I may never be happy till I own one.'

By: exlotuseater

exlotuseater — Sun, 15 May 2005 08:14:03 -0800

How about a ThrustSSC? or barring that, a Vincent Black Shadow?

By: longbaugh

longbaugh — Sun, 15 May 2005 08:36:22 -0800

Interestingly (crossover to the other recent MeFi car thread) Clarkson has owned a Ferrari F355 Berlinetta, a Merc SL55 and now the new Ford GT. And yet he wants a supercharged carbon fibre shopping trolley. There's just no pleasing some people.

By: riffola

riffola — Mon, 16 May 2005 15:52:45 -0800

Aah Jeremy Clarkson, heh, that's a nice car.