1980 Ariel Atom 2

Tubular exposed chassis

340 HP Ecotec

Manual

A2RTE2SSJ6A000100

Clear

Gasoline

Normal 0 0 1 1193 6805 Apprentice Information Systems, Inc. 56 15 7983 14.0 Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE If you have watched the Fifth Gear program lately, you know....this is the highest rated street legal track day car! Not for the faint of heart or those who wish to remain inconspicuous. A Special Atom I am putting a very special Atom up for sale. It was built for me in 2007 as I was preparing to host AtomFest. (www.AtomFest.net) In fact, it was so special that for the first several months of ownership, I was asked by the factory not to show it, or share photos of it on line. This is one of an exclusive group of Atoms built with the Atom 2 main configuration and the Atom 3 style structure in the arrangement of the diagonal tubes in the frame. To my knowledge, about ten Atoms were built using this arrangement, most of them going to the initial “Ariel Atom Experience” fleet. I will include a portfolio of photos, video, receipts and other items documenting the history of this car.My history with AtomsThis is the second Atom I have owned, the first being the 3rd manufactured by Brammo. Both Atoms were licensed in Arkansas and driven regularly on the street where as you can imagine, they drew lots of attention. If you are the shy retiring type, this car may not be for you. I ran my first car at tracks around the US extensively in 2007, promoting the Atomfest event that was held that October. In the course of that track experience, I tested many "special" parts for the Brammo factory and learned what strengths the Atom has for such heavy use and how it could be improved. Here is a link to video I made showing the first Atom doing what it does best - passing lots of other cars on the track. You can cut and paste it into your browser to view the video.http://s66.photobucket.com/albums/h269/SuperCobraBuilders/AtomFest/?action=view¤t=AtomFun.mp4Many of our lessons ended up in future production Atoms and others were incorporated into the red framed beauty that is up for sale here. After Brammo ceased production, I continued to work with Unique Fabrication, an Oregon based company owned and operated by the ex-Brammo development and testing manager. The car up for sale features numerous upgraded parts manufactured by Unique Fabrication as shown in the photos. Because I had developed a close relationship with the factory, they also “managed” the serial number sequence so that my car would bear a serial number ending in “100”. (Ful VIN-A2RTE2SSJ6A000100) The original options included a full set of carbon fiber bodywork including fenders, nosecone, cowl panel, bonnet, console, dash, forward engine cover, tea tray, intake cover and a beautiful set of carbon fiber wings. The chassis and roll bar were powder coated in the same color red that is typically used on bonnets and intake covers. A first for the Brammo built Atoms was the red powder coating of the upper and lower “A” arms and the tie rods. These were black on all previously built Atoms. (Subsequently, chassis number …121, commonly known as “Goldfinger” had gold colored suspension and a gold chassis). I purchased a second full set of panels at order time including the nose, bonnet, intake, tea tray, etc. in the standard red and black colors. After swapping parts around over time, I settled on the look I preferred, mostly carbon, but with red bonnet and intake cover. I selected the 245HP Ecotec engine based on the excellent experience I had with my first Atom which had seen thousands of race track miles, suffering no engine problems. (Exhaust and wheel bearings, but no engine problems). My order included the remote oil filter and cooler option, the “race” mirrors, the excellent Sparco seats, competition 3” 6-point harnesses with pads, passenger foot rest, driver’s dead pedal, Wilwood brakes (based on excellent track experience on my first car). The dampers selected were the Koni 2812 double adjustable units with the race spring kit. The car also featured the quick release steering wheel, cockpit mounted brake bias adjuster, billet steering rack, the battery master switch, standard road lighting kit and a custom fitted red & black indoor cover. One option of particular note is the clear side panels. Since this chassis configuration is so rare, I believe only 2 sets were ever made. They are still wrapped in the factory protective materials, never fitted to the car. This car has seen both street and track use, but was mostly used as a mascot car for Atomfest and did not see the hard track use of my earlier Atom. The photos testify to the great condition of the car. Once the car has served as the poster car for AtomFest II, I began an upgrade and improvement process which included the following. Suspension/Chassis: Unique Fabricating billet aluminum uprights. These were added to eliminate the upright/bearing failures that were common to these Atoms when tracked hard over a long period. They are not only a great replacement, but cosmetically beautiful too. My first Atom was the test bed for this upright design which is well documented on the AtomClub Forum. ShockWrench adjustment rings and tool. Makes ride height and preload adjustments simple and fast without having to jack the car off the ground. Not cheap, but worth every penny. High performance Aurora rod ends on all chassis pick-up points. Original Atom rod ends were too light a spec and could produce a catastrophic failure. Safety retaining washers for rod end retention. Allows for greater suspension travel and prevents binding at extremes of suspension deflection. Some of the Brammo Atoms experienced fractures in the forward cross tube in the engine bay, after many, many hard miles of track abuse. My original Atom was one of those. In order to prevent this from ever being a problem on number 100, I had Tom weld gussets into the frame in the area of concern. These can be seen in the undercarriage photo. The “A” arms of this car were custom fitted to replace the original rubber bushings (at the chassis pick-up points) with spherical bearings. This produces a much tighter chassis geometry and eliminates the “stiction” that is frequently associated with these cars. Engine: In the engine department, Tom replaced the stock supercharger with a Harrop unit, which significantly increases the horsepower potential. This is coupled with a Corvette LS-4 throttle body and mild tuning to produce 340 HP without the need for alcohol injection or other extra consumables for engine life. (see engine cooling below). While Tom had the engine disassembled, he also installed Diamond forged pistons, larger capacity Siemens injectors, Walbro fuel pump, Aeromotive fuel regulator, filter and gauge. The heads were ported and the coolant bypass reconfigured to eliminate the bypass hose that commonly interferes with exhaust headers on Atoms. A common weakness of the Ecotec Atoms has been the exhaust system, especially under hard (racetrack) use. Tom came up with a beautiful all stainless system for me that is fully modular and beautiful. It can be easily re-configured to have one, two or no mufflers and various outlets including one with Super-Trapp adjustable baffles to tune the exhaust flow. Engine cooling can be a problem when higher power is produced. Tom fabricated a beautiful additional cooler for installation in the “hoop” area of the car where the original air intake was located. It fits completely under the intake cover and does a great job in keeping temps down. It is fitted with a separate surge tank and overflow. Other: After lots of track abuse of the standard Brammo rear wing on my first Atom, I found that the mounting was less than satisfactory. The mounts would slide along the frame, moving the wing about and scraping off the powdercoat. Tom Smurzynski and I worked on the problem, with Tom designing a beautiful tubular wing support that compliments the Atom’s main chassis design. This arrangement is exceptionally strong and uses standard bolt locations in the Atom’s chassis. After experimenting with a modular wing (I ran it at Laguna Seca), I ultimately went back to the factory front wing, in carbon fiber of course. The turn indicator housings have been upgraded to carbon fiber and the lamps upgraded to LEDs. A “Traqmate Complete” onboard GPS based performance and data acquisition system is installed. http://store.traqmate.com/Traqmate-Complete-p/930001.htm Wheels & tires: Over the years I have run many wheel & tire combinations on my Atoms including 15” fronts with 17” rears, and many versions of 15” front – 16” rears. I have run Team Dynamics, Dymag and SSR-C wheels, all with varying levels of grip and fitment. The car is currently fitted with Yokohama A048 205/50 VR15 fronts and monster Toyo Proxes R888 275/40 ZR17 rears, all on Team Dynamics wheels. The rears are much wider than stock, mounted on custom order TD wheels. These are covered by custom-width carbon fiber fenders, as shown in the photos. This combination gives the car an exceptionally aggressive stance. I will include a second set of wheels and tires for track use. Buyer can choose from 3 different sets. Why am I selling? At the age of 61, my life is filled with lots of things. So much so, that I only occasionally get to see, much less drive my Atom. It only seems right that this fantastic car go on to a person with the time and opportunity to enjoy it for what it is – One of the highest performance and most head-turning street legal vehicles available with a super low operating cost. I will of course have some regrets, but I have lots of memories, lots of photos and videos and many friends in the Atom community.Reserve PriceThe reserve price is very reasonable, low in fact for a car of this type and quality and very competitive with cars having 100 less horsepower, no carbon fiber and no provenance.Matching AtomFest coin & PosterThe successful bidder will also receive 2 commemorative AtomFest coins, one each for 2007 and 2009. These coins are approximately 2" in diameter and have the last 3 digits of this car's VIN "100" I had these coins minted to commemorate the AtomFest events and each has a unique serial number. I will also include a fresh printing of poster which was used in promoting AtomFest II.Delivery AvailableI can deliver the car in an enclosed trailer within the continental United States for $1.50 per one-way mile. On Nov-20-12 at 15:42:31 PST, seller added the following information: Special limited time offer for free shipping -I am scheduled to travel from Northwest Arkansas via I-44, I-70 and I-71 to Northeast Ohio this week and will be running with an empty trailer on my outbound trip. If a buyer within 200 miles of this route selects the "Buy It Now" before Friday at noon, I will load the Atom and deliver it on my way with no delivery cost to the buyer. You could have your car by the end of the day on Monday! My past experience with shipping Atoms in dedicated enclosed trailers suggests that this would be a savings of $1,400 - 1,600 to the buyer. This offer will expire at noon Friday, November 23 CST.