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History

 

The Atom was conceived in the mid 1990s by Simon Saunders – to create an all new lightweight sports car, completely suitable for use on the road but also squarely aimed at the then growing interest in track days. Working as a freelance car designer at the time and lecturing in Transport Design, it was also a question of practising what you preach. A few companies had previously had a go at a ‘new Lotus 7’, such as Renault with the Spyder and LCC with the Rocket but missed the mark on weight or price. Simon was convinced that there was a need for a car that brought the Lotus 7 idea up to date.

Working with one of his students, Niki Smart, using contemporary advanced CAD modelling as well as old school hand sketching and modelling techniques (plus a vast amount of midnight oil burning) they created a design that embodied Colin Chapman’s original goals of simplicity, minimalism and light weight but in a 21st century package. From this the Atom was born. 

With Niki at the Royal College and Simon throwing all his resources at the project, coupled with help from various companies including Ford, British Steel, Stewart Grand Prix, MIRA and friends in the industry, a working prototype was made which brought the car to life and testing began in 1997. The first prototype used a 1.7 litre Ford Zetec engine from a Puma developing around 120bhp and proved that the low power coupled with low weight was not only fast but enormous fun. With data and feedback from testing and help from Arch Motors, work began in earnest on the production Atom, essentially a complete redesign from the ground up, using a 1.8 litre Rover K Series engine from the MGF. The tuning packages available at the time made the Rover the choice for nearly all the low volume car makers in the UK.

The Atom was announced in Autocar on 29 September 1999. Although these were just studio shots of the first production car, with no driving impressions, because they hadn’t driven it, Autocar were inundated with calls about the car. It was also the first of many pun headlines – Up and Atom, followed soon by Atomic Smitten, Atom Bomb, Atomahawk and more. Reaction to the Atom was overwhelming and working from their studio in North Perrott it quickly became apparent that Ariel and the Atom had found its niche. 

The first production cars, made in North Perrott, were delivered in the year 2000 and had Rover engines with power outputs of 120bhp, 165bhp and 190bhp with the VHPD Rover engine. Simply called the Atom, but now referred to as Atom 1, the car was made in relatively small numbers and well looked after examples are beginning to fetch a premium as future classics! The Atom quickly gained its reputation as the most fun you can have on four wheels and even with the standard 120bhp Rover engine its giant killer status became well known.

In 2002, after lengthy discussions with Honda, a deal was struck to supply engines direct from the Swindon Honda factory and, after a year of development, the Atom 2 was released featuring the 2.0 Type-R and Type-S engines from the Civic. Using MBE ECUs the Type-R engine put out 220bhp and the Type-S 160bhp. Although the new Honda engine was the focal point of the Atom 2, there were also numerous revisions to the car including suspension, steering, chassis and bodywork. With the jump in power from a highly tuned Rover engine to a standard 220bhp the Atom came of age. Not only was the performance increased and the handling superior to the first Atoms but with the Honda engine came the legendary reliability that the Atom is famous for.

In 2004 the first supercharged version of the Atom was launched to an astonished Autocar at their yearly 0-100-0 shootout. With 275bhp and the banshee wail of the supercharger the Atom also made its first attempt to remove Jeremy Clarkson's face in Top Gear (now over 10M hits on YouTube!). At the same time 2004 saw Ariel enter a 220bhp normally aspirated Atom into the Gold Arts 100 Endurance Race series and won it outright, at first attempt, proving that the Honda engine in the Atom chassis was indeed the perfect combination of power, weight and reliability.

2005 saw further development of the Atom and the Honda Type R engine with the Hondata ECU, bringing power up to 245bhp for the normally aspirated car and 300bhp for the supercharged car. With production increasing year on year it quickly became apparent that more space was needed and Ariel started building the new factory on the A30, moving into the first unit in 2006.

The Atom 3 was introduced in 2007 with the new KZ 2.0 Type R engine, slightly wider chassis and a host of updates to the rest of the car. The way to spot the difference between an Atom 2 and Atom 3 is to look at which way the chassis diagonals run on the side of the car for more elbow room (an Atom 1 is easier because it has a much higher air intake).  Balancer shafts in the new engine and revised engine mounts made the car much smoother and the new aeroscreens did an awesome job of reducing helmet buffeting. Other firsts were included in 2009, including a full windscreen option and individual ratcheting seats.

In 2010 the much talked about V8 was released, in a limited edition of 25 cars, with a 3.0 Hartley engine and Sadev sequential gearbox with paddle change plus further face ripping for Mr Clarkson! 2011 saw the Atom V8 gain first place on the Top Gear leaderboard despite a cold and damp January track. 

Later in the year another limited edition, the Atom Mugen with a 270bhp normally aspirated Honda Mugen engine, was released with a red chassis and numbered white bodywork.

So what's next? Ariel are currently developing a motorbike and development of the Atom is ongoing. Watch this space!