Sub Atomic particles..(naked Atom pics..)

[breakaway500]

The car was designed by a group of automotive engineering students in the UK.They developed an ultralight exo-skelletal sports car for road use. A man named Simon Saunders was head of the design team and decided to build their Idea in to reality.In 2000, Simon sub contracted the actual construction to various craftsmen to build the Ariel Atom in the UK .After a few years,they moved everything into their own facility and the Ariel Atom factory was born. In 2005 brammo motorsports in Ashland,Oregon was licensed by Ariel to build the Atom2 in the United States for North American use. brammo built the Atom2 and incorporated some changes along the way,using GM drivetrains(actually from Saab),wiring,different uprights etc, until 2007,when the license was transferred to TMIATi in Virginia.The car is back to the UK specs mostly,using the new Atom3 frame and Honda drivetrain. Some brammo Atom2s were built with the Honda engine,but not many.They were mostly assembled here with UK parts,and do not share many running parts with the Ecotec Atom.
That brings us up to today,and yes,it rains in the UK..a lot.They... don't care about a little rain in the face,or down you back..sitting in it..
At least they put drains in the bottom of the seats. Ha!
They are fun on or off the track.
There are about 150 Atoms in the USA in various configurations.
,,and they are still being built in Virginia and the UK.( There is an Atom dealer in AZ as well.)

[breakaway500]

Dave,here's a nice example of a brammo Ecotec Atom2.It's in Ca,so shipping is going to be another $1.5k. The possibilities are there...with a $50k budget,you should be able to buy the car,ship it,get good tires and have no excuse for not kicking my ass.. The car will always be worth strong money with a Ca. title.( I add $5k to the value of an Atom with a title)

Ebay..link to auction.. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... MEWAX%3AIT

[962porsche]

that is a nice car ! i do want a car with a roof . my list is now down to either a 1st or 2nd gen M3 or a 968 . i went to look at a E36 tonight . no way !!!

[breakaway500]

Yea,a car with a roof is an asset in new england.Winters are long and summers are too wet and cold.I wonder if there is a club like COM in the Phoenix AZ area...

[962porsche]

i hate winter !!! hate it hate it hate it !! another big reason i want a car with a roof is it will need to be put out side at times . i only have so much inside space to put cars . if i can't make money working on the car it will have to get put outside untill a bay opens back up .

[breakaway500]

This is what I use for outdoor storage..







They are easy to construct,(two days,alone)inexpensive,NO taxes and they last for years.I have a third one,which I just recently replaced the 12 year old cover on.The replacement cost of the cover was $700.Not bad for 12 years of dry weather storage. My biggest "tent" is 28' wide by 50' long. LOTS of room...for junk...

[paultg]

Alright, I need a tour of your place Mark. I see a early 90's LX vert (which is a different car than the GT you brought to the autox, you have 3 atoms, that truck without the plow looks cool, the buggy is sweet, and I'm not sure but 60-70s Ford truck as well? Plus the Miata, Focus, etc..

I want to walk around and drool!

[breakaway500]

Yea..it's kind of my "open air" country museum. Ha!

...You might say,I have a car/bike/truck phobia....that started early..

That plowless pickup is a genuine "Dale Earnhardt Commemorative Harley-Davidson Edition Superduty"! Only one made..just one. The engine makes 610lbs of torque and it gets 23mpg. highway.It's my company truck.

The MSM and Goldfinger,(the ultimate factory fully optioned Atom2 ever made ..really!) are in the heated den,in the house.

The Focus is in front of the dozer. The dozer for smoothing the field track,etc. Buggy is for the track(good for the driving muscles!) Old Fox Mustang is an 82 with a 90 nose..future project..too good to toss.

The '64 F100 has a 429/C6/9" drivetrain and is from Ca.,I used it out in Ca,..and then drove it to Ma. around 1979,stored indoors,and it has not seen a new england winter road. Another future project/hot rod.

The rest are scattered around..in various disrepair..

Wonder why I live in the country?

[Kai Noeske]

I am a bit jealous... grew up in the country and have been cramped into apartments ever since the beginning of college... hope to change that soon - may need to with the number of vehicles growing .

You also lived in CA? I did until 2 yrs ago, then drove a certain red car across the country with my buddy. What an adventure... sadly, the Bonneville salt flats had not dried up yet to do a flying 'rolla mile

[breakaway500]

My Dad was military,so we were stationed in Florida,Texas,Virginia,Ca.,England,Nebraska,Alabama,and ended in Massachusetts,while he was in stationed in Vietnam. Mom got to liking Ma.,but Dad wanted to live in Ca...so they split up.I tried Ca. for a few years..but ended back in Ma. Now I am thinking Arizona... I really don't like the cold and snow for 4 months,plus our winters destroy cars so badly. The ideal would be a place in Az. I could visit and come back to new england in the summer.Don't know how I would swing it though. Bonneville would be a great place to visit! Def on my list..along with Miller Motorsport park,Infineon,Hallett raceway,Laguna Seca...Mid Ohio,Road Atlanta,Talledega, PIR, I could spend the rest of my life travelling from track to track... ahh such a dreamer...

[962porsche]

mark i would like to put up a car port or tent . but i don't have a good place . were i live the people there would flip ! the repair shop the land owner said NO WAY . at the paint shop there is no room i could put it in back of the shop but that is amtrack's property . i do use it as my own space with parking some of my cars back there but as i fould out when my trailer was ripped off . my insurance does not cover my things there . as for moving . i would like to move were its warm and i could race year round . but AZ ? i like trees and sand should stay at the beach . i do like NE in some ways hikking in the woods when it snows , changing of the seasons fall rides in the car . not to many earth quacks , hurricanes , mud slides , fires , tornados , . so were i live next to Long inland sound we get a 2 to 4 weeks of bitter cold and the rest of the time its about 34 out like today and not to much snow and in the summer we get about the same of the hazzy hot & hummed days.

[breakaway500]

The only thing you don't get in Arizona is ocean-front property.Ha! It's got yer sand..and sunshine..and maybe some seagulls..so,who needs all that cold salty water? Seroiusly,Arizona has some great areas, covered with Ponderosa pines and high country vegetation.Lakes,rivers and streams. and even..SNOW! ..but it melts by noon unless you are in the mountains. (Gods way of messin with the locals... )
I have had enough of old man winter. Sick of sacrificing 4 months of damn cold,sand and salt covered roads,frozen cars..for what? 30 sunny days a year? (maybe less..) Not to mention the tyranny constantly pouring out of Boss-town...

But I digress...

[962porsche]

yep the only salt i like is in the ocean ! there has to be a better place to live than in NE . i love working on snow covered cars dripping cold wet brown slush all over you .

[jimmacsrx7]

The only thing you don't get in Arizona is ocean-front property.Ha! It's got yer sand..and sunshine..and maybe some seagulls..so,who needs all that cold salty water? Seroiusly,Arizona has some great areas, covered with Ponderosa pines and high country vegetation.Lakes,rivers and streams. and even..SNOW! ..but it melts by noon unless you are in the mountains. (Gods way of messin with the locals... )
I have had enough of old man winter. Sick of sacrificing 4 months of damn cold,sand and salt covered roads,frozen cars..for what? 30 sunny days a year? (maybe less..) Not to mention the tyranny constantly pouring out of Boss-town...

But I digress...

I lived in AZ for two years in the early 90's...wish I had stayed there.I was in the Phoenix area we made a couple of trips to "Rocky Point", Peureto Penasco Mexico, for our ocean and speed fix. We had some hyped up quads and you can drive anything on the roads in Mexico,it was pretty cool especially coming from a buttoned down area like MA. You can race along the beach for miles and miles,ride remote dirt roads flat out and generaly live like your a free human on the earth until a drug gang or the Federallies take your s**t Ah... to be in my early 20's again...... life was a lot more simple then.

Jim McNamara
____________________
Mazda RX7 #30 PA

[horizenjob]

AZ seems a little odd, at least in the Pheonix. I used to fly thru there on my old job. Just seems weird to fly over a few hundred miles of desert and then the first house you see is parked right next it's neighbor, like 20 or thirty feet. Why can't they spread things out a bit?

You can't drink the water and the heat goes well over a hundred, even in the spring and fall. It was just surprising how concentrated the population was....