Am I the only one who doesn't like them? Would be so much better if it had a body shell. Then again, I hate open cars and convertibles.

 

No the KTM is!

Seriously though, if a Lotus 7 is a car, and a Locost, cater, etc etc etc. is.

If a Ultimate is. All the Atom doesn't have is body panels. it counts as a car IMO.

 

You are wrong. How is an Atom like a motor cycle?

 

How does it not? Let comapir it to a enzo. Both seat 2 comfortably, both have no luggage room, what makes the atom so different?

 

Anything with four wheels is an automobile in my mind....regardless of amenities or lack there of.
Three wheels still a tricycle - or green machine.
Two wheels still a bike.
Any combination of looks to follow are what makes us individuals in matter of either liking or disliking.
Vehicles should never be defined by their powerplants alone.
As far as fairness goes.....If I could, I would.

 

That "sleeping policeman" rule seems to be arbitrary anyway, after seeing the pictures (I think on Jalopnik) of the Gumpert Apollo hung up on a speed bump...

 

well, i'm unimpressed. Never been a big fan of the Atom. If I had the money for a car like that, I'd go buy a Radical SR8. Same or similar engine (Powertec V8) with a much better chassis and more hardcore than the atom. The Atom frame looks like it was designed by some art major, not an engineer. Its a great poser car to keep up with the Joneses though.

SR8 demolishing road-legal production car lap record in 6:55:00 at the 'Ring:



BTW, 1000 hp/tonne is been done before. Anyone heard of the Caparo T1?



Or, for something even madder, even more DIY, the Dax Rush powered by a 430 hp cosworth, and AWD so you don't kill yourself.

http://www.evo.co.uk/carreviews/evoc.../dax_rush.html

 

Remember when they reviewed and drove the Caparo T1? It did a 1:10.6 (beating the Apollo by over six seconds) but they disqualified it for the ride height.

 

That image apparently hasn't been updated for the last episode of the past season, where the Apollo took the top spot.

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/08/09/v...rs-test-track/

And my mistake, it was Autoblog that had the images, not Jalopnik.

 

Depending on the dimensions of the V8 from that Atom, I bet people could come up with some pretty demented swaps...

 

Cause all it has going for it to convince us its a car is four wheels, two seats, and an engine. A car is much more then that.

 

Yeah, old picture, and I haven't watched 11x06 yet. (It's downloaded and sitting there...) So the Gumpert Apollo does now reign supreme.

Post edited. (bows gracefully)

 

Apologies for ruining the surprise.

Re: edit- That's the sort of thing I'm talking about. The T1, DBR9, etc, are DQ'd for ride height, but the Apollo can't make it over a standard speed bump over here and is allowed? Or does the adjustable suspension have something to do with it?

Edit: And yes, Putin did indeed slip on his tea. A horrible accident.

 

I do seem to recall some other car that they did back in S9 or S10 where they specifically made a point of demonstrating the adjustable height suspension and pointing out that for this reason it qualified for the board. I wish I could remember which lap that was. Guess I'll have to completely re-watch every show now...




EDIT: It was the Ascari A10, in 10x09: "Now because this has a hydraulic lifting nose, which we can see here, it is able to get over speed bumps and that means it is a road car and that means it can go on our board!" (Jezza)

 

That's reasonable enough.

After reading the Autoblog article again, apparently the Apollo got stuck because it had a passenger, so perhaps they just put the lightest person they could find (the Hamster?) on board in order to do the speed bump test.

 

The Stig would have done just fine over the speed hump- after all, he has no mass.

 

Well, I've only ever driven a Locost (this one was V-6 powered), but I don't really like them, either. As a toy they are silly fun and scary fast. They handle better than even a well sorted Miata with a good suspension. They can out accelerate almost anything.

But, they're loud & cramped. You constantly get a shower of dust and crap thrown up by any other cars around. You litterally have to rinse the dust out of your mouth after a drive. There are no basics like heat or even decent ventilation (the footwells get really hot), and if it's raining you get soaked. They suck to get in or out of, and if you have a passenger, you don't have room for much else, unless you want to strap it on like the Beverly Hillbillys.

They have to be garaged, or all that suspension hanging out for all to see gets rusty, not to mention the seats getting wet. As a toy, they're great. but as a practical vehicle, not so much.

 

I'm risking the potential for ridicule here, I know... but how the hell are you getting all the recent episodes? I don't have cable or a fancy DVR or a goddamn TV for that matter, therefore I'm relegated to the interweb (Youtube) for my Top Gear viewing material... unless someone clues me in.

 

You seem to answer your own statements. Cars like these are all toys. The top exotics are toys too. No one drives an Enzo as a daily driver. It's all about fun and fast, on the road if you are a little nuts, and particularly for track days.

As this is a Miata turbo website, I would think most here would love to have a chance to own or drive one of these. They are like our cars taken to an EXTREME! Daily driver? no. Kick in the butt outlandish fun? You bet!

Makes me want to build a lo-cost.

 

I'd tend to agree with you here. But there's a bloke called Frank Mountain and he has an MC12 (kinda like an Enzo) and he seems to fondly run it as a semi-daily; he actually likes rock chips. Sideways on a snowy road in a million-dollar car? Ain't a thang for some of us.