Smiles

Hello, Rennlisters.

I have a brand new US-built Ariel Atom. It’s fully loaded, including full carbon fiber body work, polished stainless headers, Wilwood track brakes, fully adjustable Konis with race springs, a quick release steering wheel, oil accumulator, removable roll bar, fire extinguisher, remote brake bias adjuster, bubble windscreens, 6-point harnesses, Recaros, billet controls, and so on. The engine is a 230 bhp Ecotec, easily converted to 300 bhp with a chip and a different supercharger pulley.

The replacement cost is close to $70,000, although Brammo (the manufacturer) has something like a 6-month backlog of orders. The car only has something like 15 delivery miles. So it’s a hard car to put a value on.

I purchased it because I loved the lightweight Formula Dodges that Skip Barber uses in its race series. A formula car with much more horsepower sounded fantastic. If you’ve seen the Top Gear episode with the Ariel Atom, you’ll know how attractive the thing is, especially in all carbon fiber.

However, I’m having a lot of trouble titling the Atom in Pennsylvania. Other owners have success registering their Atoms in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Illinois, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas and Washington. I knew that this was a chance I was taking, but Pennsylvania is too difficult, and I don’t want to keep a track-day DE only car. The car does come with a Manufacturer’s Certificate of Origin and a 17-digit VIN number, but no title.

I’ve been thinking about trying to trade it (perhaps plus some money) for a nice 993 TT. (I’m also open to other 993s, so I’ll post this on both 993 areas, but I really prefer the Turbo.)

The best thing to do (or the way to get the most value from the Atom) may be to sell the Atom on Ebay in the spring. However, if I could find a dealer or private party who is interested in getting a new Atom without the wait, and has a nice 993 TT for sale, please let me know. (I prefer silver or black!)

Thanks in advance to anyone who has any advice. I’d also welcome anyone who has any friends inside PennDOT that could be helpful for titling the Atom.

Thanks!

--Matt

PierreTT

I saw this Top Gear episode and was amazed by the Atom potential. Hopefully you'll find somebody to help you register it...
Pierre

bb993tt

I've run up against these on tracks in the UK. They're not to be taken lightly.

ignomini

The Top Gear car was Honda powered. With a Jackson Racing supercharger on it, they had about 275-285 at the rear wheels. Fun stuff that.

Smiles

Mine definitely has 230 at the rear wheels.

A simple chip and supercharger pulley will deliver 300. Net. That's a lot for a 500 kg chassis. But the chassis deals with it well. On the Top Geat scoreboard, it outperforms a Carrera GT.

As Brian says, it's not to be taken lightly.

dbf73

Matt - how about first registering it in one of the "easy" known states (use address of friend/relative) and then take the resulting title to register in PA.

nota_troll

Ariel Atom is the closest thing to riding a motorcycle so I'd rather blow my money on a Ducati.

PierreTT

My .02
2 very different experiences to me. Atom is the closest thing to an Open Wheels race car without aero effects to me (ie Formula Ford or similar)...

Smiles

Doug, the problem with titling it in another state is that it won't pass PA annual inspections. If, however, I can ever get the car accepted with PA's MV-426 process, it would pass all future inspections.

I agree completely with Pierre. The Ariel Atom is like an open wheel car, which is nothing like a motorcycle.

Smiles

I'm going to bump this to the top rather than start a new thread (either here or in the For Sale section). A few things have changed since I first posted this:

1. My Atom now is titled and legal in PA.
2. The replacement cost has gone up to $79,000(!)

I can say that the Atom is truly awesome. It actually draws more attention than I'm comfortable with.

I'd like to trade it in for a 993TT. Roslyn Porsche on Long Island has a nice looking slate grey one for sale, but the salesman had no idea what an Ariel Atom was. Would anyone here be interested, or should I simply sell it on Ebay, and then go shopping?

Thanks,

Matt

Smiles

I've temporarily unbolted the rollbar since these pictures were taken. It looks much nicer without it, but it can be replaced for track day events easily.

manny_g

Can you actually drive this in the street? Looks awesome. I would consider keeping it. Must be a fantastic ride on mountain roads. Please post more pics if you have them.

Good luck in whatever you do...

993TurboS

If there is a wait list, then shouldn't one of those guys be a willing buyer at 79k? Or, at a minimum, whomever sold it to you should be willing to take it back at 70 and sell it for 79k+ to someone deep on the wait list. I don't know anything at all about that car, but it seem like it should be an easy deal if it is as hot as the list price as it sounds.

atan888

there is one for sale on 6speed and its street legal. the seller ofered me a while back for a trade with my 993tt plus cash.

TT Surgeon

That slate car at roslyn porsche is flawless if anybody is interested.