Ariel Atom (United Kingdom, 2000-2005)

The first version ever of the Ariel Atom was born from a 1996 student project at the Coventry University, which was run by transport design student Nik Smart. In his project, Nik named it Lightweight Sports Car (LSC) and it had the fund and help of several relevant members from the automotive industry, such as TWR and British Steel, amongst others.   The British company’s owner, Simon Saunders, had been dreaming about a revitalization for Ariel and, therefore, totally backed this project up both financially and as a design critic. The Ariel Atom finally saw the light of day at the 1996 British International Motor Show in Birmingham, where it was publicly released.