Ariel Ltd

This article is about the modern sportscar manufacturer, for the historic British motorcycle and car marque, see Ariel (vehicle).

Search By Model

2016 Current Models

Super Car

Atom

Ariel Motors Ltd (formerly Solocrest Ltd) is a low-volume performance motor vehicle manufacturing company, based in Crewkerne, Somerset, England.

Founded by Simon Saunders in 1991, the name was changed in 2001 from Solocrest to Ariel Motors, although the name change and company have nothing to do with the former Ariel Motorcycles firm. Ariel Motors is one of the UK's smallest automotive companies, with just 7 employees, producing fewer than 100 cars per year. The company's flagship car is the Ariel Atom, an extremely light, high performance car, powered by a Honda Civic Type-R engine and gearbox. The Atom is the world's first road-going exoskeletal car; it has no bodywork or roof, and is built entirely around the tube chassis, making it extremely lightweight at less than 500 kg (1,102 lb). This means that the high performance supercharged model has a power-to-weight ratio of over 600 bhp (450 kW) per tonne, at a fraction of the cost of a conventional sports car. Ariel is currently developing a new car called the Atom 500, with 500 bhp (370 kW) and a power-to-weight ratio of about 1000 BHP/ton. In 2011, Ariel announced plans to produce a high performance bespoke motorcycle from summer 2012, powered exclusively by a Honda engine. The proposed 200 units per annum will retail at around £20,000 per bike.

See also

• Ariel Atom

External links

• www.arielmotor.co.uk Ariel Motor Company Official Website
• www.arielatom.com Ariel Atom North America website
• www.brammo.com Brammo Motorsports, US manufacturer website