Ariel Cars, which has become famous over the past decade for building the ultra-light Atom sports car (no roof, no doors, looks like a mobile pile of scaffold), has announced that it's branching out from pure sports models and making, as with so many firms, it's first ever SUV.
The Nomad is a chunky, but still lightweight (just 670kg) off-road buggy that is also fully road legal and uses, as with all Atom models, a Honda engine. In this case its a 2.4-litre petrol engine from the Honda Accord, which Ariel has tweaked to deliver 235hp and 300Nm of torque. It's that high torque figure, combined with the Nomad's low weight and its chunky off-road tyres, that Ariel reckons will compensate for the lack of all-wheel-drive.
That’s right, here’s an off-roader that can only be bought as a rear-drive vehicle. To prove its worth, Ariel has tested it on several terrains from race track to rally tack and most surfaces in between. The company claims that its off-road performance is exceptional and that it can accelerate from 0-100kmh in under four-seconds even on a loose surface.
Ariel's founder, Simon Saunders, told us that "there are things that we can do at low volume that you simply couldn't contemplate with mass production. We understand niche markets and we understand customers' demands completely. Everything we have learnt from the Atom has gone into Nomad and it shows. Nomad is Atom's tough brother and a continuation of our 'serious fun' philosophy. If we can put a smile on people's faces, on road or off it, we have done our job."
Henry Siebert-Saunders, Simon’s son who headed up development for the Nomad, added: “It’s a bit of a moment for us. It will be the first Ariel that has a roof and doors.”
