Vehicle exhibits

The Ariel Atom is a road legal high performance sports car made by the Ariel Motor Company. The Atom began as a student project by Coventry University transport design student, Nik Smart. Known then as the LSC (Lightweight Sports Car), it was developed at the university in 1996 with input and funding from various automotive industry members, including British Steel and TWR. The Atom is built with an exoskeleton type frame and features very minimal bodywork to go along with the sports car’s lightweight theme. The Ariel Atom is powered by a variety of power plants ranging from a Honda K series four cylinders to GM Ecotec engines with outputs ranging from 245 HP to 300 HP depending upon the application The Atom’s suspension setup was tuned by the engineers at Lotus, and is derived from single seat racing cars and is fully adjustable, requiring only a spanner. Both front and rear double unequal length wishbones and inboard, pushrod-operated dampers contribute to the Atom’s dynamic race car-like handling. The Atom is widely renowned as one of the world’s fastest accelerating road legal cars. Donated by Ron Eckman of Wellington