There is something about sheer pace, power and brute force that is appealing to the human senses, well, at least to the men. While we all appreciate the subtle and the sublime, it is that ‘irresistible force’ that usually captures our attention the most. It is the thrill of a 100m sprint that fills the seats in the stadium rather than the endurance of a marathon runner. It is this animal instinct still lingering underneath our more cultivated and grafted exterior that allows us to enjoy when Iron Mike Tyson knocks out opponents in the second round or when Michael Schumacher races wheel to wheel with Alonso at 300mph. It is the same reason why we love fast cars, bikes and jets.
While we cannot play around with jets (well, at least not most of us), bikes are most often the obvious choice of the young speed demons. While they do offer the thrill and that sense of freedom generally missing the closed structure of a car, it is almost universally accepted that they are a lot less safe. Here is a perfect car, which to me is the ultimate compromise. This is the ‘Atom’ and it offers everything you always were looking for. The car is made by a small group called ‘Ariel’. I would not call anything employing just 7 men as a company, but if it is one, then it probably is the world’s smallest car making company.
The Atom is a wonderfully designed piece of automobile. If simplicity is the true beauty of life, then the Atom is the most beautiful car in the world. Its body work is so simple that it is nothing beyond the chassis of the car. It offers not just great new look (or lets just say, a track car look) but it means you don’t have to pay cash for the useless body work and let’s face it; there is not need to worry about tiny dents or scratches. For someone like me, who makes too many of those, this liberates me from a load of headache.
Then there is the matter of weight. With the Atom weighing in only at 500kg and being driven by an engine that is used in a Honda Civic, the car actually experiences more acceleration than a Ferrari sports car. With the price tag for the simplest model being less than 20,000 pounds (and one would want to buy only the simplest version of it), this is absolute value for money. If something can hit 60mph from rest in mere 2.9 seconds, then it must be an absolute delight to drive. Obviously the g forces in the car are on the higher side and it is not for the faint of heart.
So what is our take on ‘The Atom’? Quite simply put, It is absolute driving Nirvana. It is the fastest road car and with the wind hitting your face so hard that it could bring out your skull, it surely is better than any bike around. To top it all off, you can do away with that annoying damn helmet.
