The Atom began as the Lightweight Sports Car project at Coventry University, where designer Niki Smart worked on it with senior lecturer Simon Saunders; the concept was shown at the British International Motor Show in Birmingham in 1996. After established sports car makers turned the idea down, Saunders took it forward through his own company, Solocrest, founded in 1991, which became the Ariel Motor Company in 1999.
The Atom went into production in 2000 with a Rover K-series engine, later replaced by Honda engines. With its tubular exoskeleton frame and a weight of under 500kg, it offers extraordinary performance, and it became famous for its acceleration and for its drivers’ faces distorting in the wind.
Ariel, based in Crewkerne, Somerset, builds up to about 100 cars a year. The range has grown to include the Nomad off-road buggy of 2015 and the Ace motorcycle of 2014, and in 2020 Autocar named the Atom 4 Britain’s best driver’s car. The company takes its name from the historic Ariel motorcycle firm, with which it has no direct link.
