Autoblog:Ariel Atom celebrates 10 years, shows off Atom 500 V8 to lucky few

Ariel Atom celebrates 10 years, shows off Atom 500 V8 to lucky few

<p>Filed under: Coupe, Performance, UK, Specialty</p><img vspace="4" hspace="0" border="1" src="[url]http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/09/v8186-630op.jpg" alt="" />[/url]

The Ariel Atom is a lightweight, high-performance sports car which started life as a design project by then-student Nik Smart. Ten years later, the Atom has progressed through three iterations, and there are plans to expand the Atom family with the creation of a motorcycle and the upcoming Ariel Atom 500 V8. The bike is still being developed, but some lucky Atom owners got a sneak peek at the V8-powered variant.

To celebrate their 10th anniversary, Ariel invited owners from around the globe to converge on their Crewkerne, Somerset headquarters. Forty-five Atoms gathered in the parking lot while owners were treated to food and drinks inside. Thanks to John Scherrer of the AtomClub.com forums, we're able to get a feel for the festivities, the highlight of which was the unveiling of a completed Ariel Atom 500 V8. But this particular Atom wasn't put together days or weeks before the event - four Ariel employees started with a bare chassis at 10:15 AM and by 3:30 PM, they had a fully built Atom 500 V8, complete with fluids and an alignment. Impressive.

Initial reports stated that the Atom 500 would feature a 2.4-liter supercharged V8. However, the car is instead being fitted with a naturally aspirated 3.0-liter unit. The current Atom 3 is capable of sub-three-second 0-60 times and will hit 100 miles per hour in less than seven seconds, so it's safe to imagine that the Atom 500 V8 will be the first road-going car to reach Ludicrous Speed. Thanks for the tip, Eric!

[Source: AtomClub.com]<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;">Ariel Atom celebrates 10 years, shows off Atom 500 V8 to lucky few originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 08:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6>Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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