Ariel Motor Company
Ariel Motor Company Ltd is a low-volume performance motor vehicle manufacturing company in Crewkerne, in Somerset, England. History. Founded by Simon Saunders in 1991 as Solocrest Ltd., the name was changed in 1999 to Ariel Motor Company Ltd. The original Ariel Motors remains as the trading company of the Ariel Owners Motorcycle Club (AOMCC) Ariel Motorcycles firm. Ariel Motor Company is one of the UK's smallest automotive companies, with just 30 employees, producing up to 100 cars per year. Products. Atom. The company manufactures 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 weigh less than . This means that the Ariel Atom 3.5R supercharged model has a power-to-weight ratio of around per tonne. In July 2018, at the Goodwood Festival of Speed Ariel announced and started taking reservations for their new Ariel Atom 4. The new car is completely revised from the previous Ariel Atom, with all but a few parts having been changed. The new  car is powered again by the engine used in the Honda Civic Type R, but is now turbo charged as standard in the Atom 4. The new car also features a thicker frame, separate seats and a revised intake. The new car has been reviewed by Autocar and deliveries started at the start of June 2019. Ace. In June 2014, the company announced the new Ariel Ace motorcycle. Powered by a Honda 1237cc V4 engine and gearbox, the bike will be produced from 2015 in similar volume levels to the existing car-based products. Nomad. In January 2015, Ariel introduced  the Nomad, a road-legal buggy designed along the same principles as the Atom, at the Autosport International Show. The Nomad utilises a 2.4 litre Honda engine producing 235bhp. HIPERCAR. In August 2017, Ariel announced the HIPERCAR (High Performance Carbon Reduction), an electric sports car. The HIPERCAR uses Equipmake APM200 electric motors, supplied by a Norfolk-based electric bus manufacturing start-up.