- Ariel Ltd
:"This article is about the modern sportscar manufacturer, for the historic British motorcycle and car marque, see
Ariel (vehicle) "The original Ariel Ltd was founded in 1898 and made both
motorcycle s and cars. Cars were dropped earlier but motorcycle production continued into the 1970's.A company Solocrest Limited founded in 1991 changed its name to Ariel Ltd in 2001. It is based in
Crewkerne , Somerset, and is one of the UK's smallest automobile companies, with just 7 employees, producing fewer than 100 cars per year. It was formerly Solocrest Limited and, apart from the name, has no connection with the formermotorcycle firm.The company's flagship car is the
Ariel Atom , an extremely light, high performance car; The UK version is based around theHonda Civic Type-R engine and gearbox, while in the USA the Atom is available with the supercharged GM Ecotec engine. 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. This means that the high performancesupercharged model has a power-to-weight ratio of over 600 bhp per tonne, at the fraction of the cost of a conventionalsupercar .
Ariel are also currently planning a new car called the Atom 500, with 500 break horsepower and a power-to-weight ration of about 1000bhp/tonSee also
*
Ariel Atom External links
* [http://www.arielmotor.co.uk/ www.arielmotor.co.uk] Ariel Motor Company Official Website
* [http://www.arielatom.com/ www.arielatom.com] Ariel Atom North America website
* [http://www.brammo.com/ www.brammo.com] Brammo Motorsports, US manufacturer website
* [http://www.arielmotor.es/ www.arielmotor.es] Ariel Motor Spain website
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