In the end of the day what does a car really need? It needs a chassis, brakes, wheels, and a motor right? Colin Chapman proved to us that lighter is better and simple will always beat complicated. His Lotus-7 roadsters were the personification of simple motoring, and gave you a undiluted driving experience.

Above: Colin Chapman’s original undiluted sports car, the Lotus-7…. 

If all this sounds like your cup of tea, then let me introduce you to a “car” that has already garnered a cult following in it’s home country of England. It’s made by a company called Ariel, and they dubbed their creation the Atom. It’s a drivers car in the purest form.

The Ariel Atom is basically a fully exposed tubular steel chassis that has two seats, four wheels, and an engine strapped to it’s rear. It combines all the best attributes from racing cars and applies them to a street legal (barely) rocket ship. At first glance it’s hard to call it a car at all.

But ultimately Mr. Chapman was right when he used to say, ” If you wanna go faster add lightness…” That’s because with a standard 2.0-liter 200hp four-cylinder Honda motor this little car can hit 0-60mph in under 3 seconds(!!!). That’s firmly in six-figure supercar territory. In fact, add the optional supercharger, which lets the engine spin out to 300hp and you’ve officially got the worlds fastest accelerating car, period.

But that’s not where the magic happens. No, in fact where this car really leaves an impression is in the handling department. The little Atom really is a man-sized go-kart. The way it steers has been called by some as “purity incarnate”, heavy words for the way a car steers. You see by being so light, every component can work to it’s full potential therefore giving you the best performance out of every component.

Just take a look at the pictures. The Ariel Atom is fun to just look at, I can only imagine the driving experience. Combining lightweight with very high quality components nets you a car like no other. This is a driving machine distilled to it’s most basic form. The name Atom is quite fitting indeed.

Above: A motor, chassis, wheels, and not much else….