That original atom video is what introduced me to top gear.

note to editor, lose the music when driving the car

I hope he re-does this one, like he did for the Shotwell, in HD, more time, no music. Still a good video.

Impressed with the production quality improvements over the last few years.

Thank you Ariel for making something like this, and selling it in the US. Maybe some day I'll get to drive one of these ultimate driver's machines if I'm lucky.

One of the best episodes of Top Gear ever was the Atom one:) I still love it! Their new V8 one is rediculous though!

And with it's relatively "low" pricing for what it is, I'd say it's an incredible value for what it is.

I saw one of these on the highway in Washington state about a year and a half or so ago. I've wanted one ever since.

Hey Jay! First off, this is one of my boyhood dreams I never had. Not because I'm not a gear head, I am, and not because i didn't like cars growing up, I did. The RUF porshe breaking the 200 mph speed barrier sealed the deal, but anyway!! :^) A guy with nothing to do but resolve every problem in the super car world, while simultaneously, stunning them all with the lack of creature comforts. It's unbelievable J! This sounds, and feels like an experience every purist should have. Thank you!

OMG i really really want one of these...

thanx for sharing Jay. This is my all time favorite vehicle.

For a sec I was like "what did Jay do to piss off those bikers?"

It's so hard for me to wrap my head around this car. It might be one of the coolest things ever created. Ever. Amazing. Just love the thing.

this has to be Jay's dream job, driving and seeing all these wild vehicles.

Still come back to watch this and drool over. Hope one day I'm lucky enough to get one. Dream cars to some will be Paganis and Lambos, while I love them too, the Ariel Atom has a special place in my heart, top of the list of dream cars to me because I envision it to be the purest driving experience left.

I love how Jay isn't afraid to drive his collection. A lot of people would buy it and let the cars collect dust.

I also love Jay Leno garage has no ads at beginning. makes all the difference.

The Family II is a straight-4 piston engine that was originally developed by Opel in the early 1970s. It was used in the Opel Ascona and Opel Kadett and their corresponding sister models the Vauxhall Cavalier and Vauxhall Astra. In the US the SOHC engine was available from 1982 to 1990 including a turbocharged version known as LT3.

Jay should review the V8 Atom or the 3.5 R Atom or sod it both

Glad he gave props to Jeremy. His review of the Atom is really good.

As I mentioned in an earlier comment, I have always wanted something like an Ariel Atom, but cannot afford one. Well, due to so.e recent developments, I have been able to begin building my version of an open-wheel sports car. It will have a 215ci all-aluminum Buick V8, 4spd manual trans, ford 8.8 solid rear axle, fabricated tube chassis with 2"x3" main rails and 1.25" and 1.5" round tube for most of the remaining structure. I had planned to use 1.5" and 1.75" round tube, but decided to go with the smaller 1.25" to try to save some weight. It will be all mild steel, not chromoly (sadly, I cannot afford chromoly, nor do I have a TIG welder at this time, though I do have access to one and will be using it for certain areas of construction). After going over my design, I felt with as light as this should end up, I really didn't need the 1.75" tube and 1.5" will do fine. I'm hoping for 1600-1800lbs total, though I will be happy with anything under 2000lbs. It will use all tubular suspension components, double wishbone A-frame front, 3-link with panhard rod in rear, and coil-overs on all 4 corners, using components normally found in a "pro-stock" circle-track racecar, but obviously with geometry designed to turn left and right. The engine will sit back in the chassis quite a bit, with the engine behind the upper balljoints by approx 4"-6", in an effort to achieve better front to rear weight percentage. The engine is being built by a local engine builder and designed to be somewhat high-revving. It will use slightly lightened crank and rods, with ultralight pistons and a 10-1 compression ratio so as to run on 93 octane pump gas. Heads will be reworked, with stainless valves and extensive porting. Intake manifold is undecided, with options being a tall single-plane, single 4-barrel design, or a fabricated sheet-metal "tunnel-ram" using twin 350cfm Holley 2-barrel carburetors (I am leaning toward the latter). Body will be my own design and built mostly from sheet aluminum, with some fiberglass and lexan as well. I am planning to make it look like a more modern version of a 1920's European sports car, with a long and narrow body and open cockpit, but with a roll-bar hoop for added safety. I will have a thread on the automotive forum for any who are interested, called "junkyard exotic".

Jay is awesome! Not only is he a car collector, he drives his cars and drives them hard..enough!

That engine sound is amazing.

WHOA! At only 300 horse power it can sprint from 0 - 60 in under 3 seconds. That's a pure race car.

i love the goofy smile he makes every time.

I think a walk-around Jay's garage would be something I would pay to do... Better than any museum I can think of.

The Ariel Atom is the best pocket rocket you can buy these days, would love to have a drive in one someday. But well expensive as heck here and the weather is not really making it any better.

If you look up the textbook definition of boss there is just a hyperlink to jays wiki right next to a picture of jay with his brass wind diffuser goggles on driving some sort of open air insane concept car from the 1960’s. Or any vehicle really as his taste knows no bounds. What a legend. Also the definition for legend btw.

He has, and had the BEST story that he told on it too!

Well I would say it is even more to show of, who would ever imagine seeing such a car on the road, but I like it

I'm definitely feeling the RC 30 in the background...

My saturn Ion has the same engine as an Atom. Though my car is nowhere near as fast as the Atom, it feels good knowing my engine is worthy of such a car!

I laught so much when i eared the "Limp Bitzkit" music ahahahahahahhah, what a fail

Its actually quite more than that, since the car if sold by a licensed dealer you can costume make the engine to your specifications like Jay mentioned when he talked about swapping the engine. This is an ideal kit car of sort, and actually quite many where sold. Jay is great at explaining the origin and history of the car and its use, which is for pure speed and fun. As how many where sold? Well, its quite a few, I seen several when I was in Europe and about 4 in Russia, so enough where build.

800-900 hp from the 2.0T is impressive. Like an Evo powerplant that way. Thanks to their tough iron blocks, you can cram tons of boost in there. But that iron block becomes a problem when lightness is a priority.

465 were built and sold in the UK, 110 were built under license in the UK.It was Simon Saunders idea to keep the numbers limited for better resale value....

Epic song when he starts driving that Atom

wow i wasn't expecting it to be that fast, looks fun.

Jay is the only guy that gets to drive like his ass is on fire in Cali....big love jay from east

I love that you had this car on here have wanted one ever since I first saw one even though Ice been told its not "practical"

I noticed just last night this wasn't on KZfaq haha, good job mates.

Didn't think about low gravity keeping you planted to the ground. Thanks for the info

Saw on another video that your installing the 3.0 hayabusa motor in your atom now? Any pictures or videos? hehe, it's like look it's an Ariel Atom, and then oh cr@p it's Jay Leno driving!!!! lol

Loved racing these in TDU2!

I love this car I want one so bad

I went for a ride in one of those at a car show. It's unbelievable.

OK jay, i got a request for a video. as you might know, the new atom 2 comes with a v8, made from forging two suzuki hayabusa engines together. and my request is to maybe get the engineers in and talk about that engine and how they did it. great video, love your channel!

Jay could you do a video on the Exomotive Exocet?

Bad ass, always loved the ariel atom seen a few here in town.

What a great piece of machinery. Gotsta be a blast.

Would you be interested in reviewing an Atom 3S (Turbo Honda K24 with 365HP)?

I hear ya! I was just trying to say its so unfair to compare it to almost any car because its so light! Hell even the lightest super car you match it up against probably out weights it by 800 pounds

I couldn't imagine what a 500hp early 6-bolt 4g63 would be like in this. If I can ever afford one. That's the engine I want in mine.

Ariel Atom. The thinking man's Motorcycle. As clearly demonstrated in this video. ;o) Thanks Jay.

That thing looks like a blast to drive!

definitely one on the bucket list

I love this car so much, especially the V8! What an accomplishment for them

Way to go Portland,Oregon. I feel proud to to live in the state this was built in

No wonder I saw one of these on the highway up in Oregon. Had no idea they were made here

Over time, the engine evolved to include many modern features such as DOHC and Gasoline direct injection. Family II has also expanded to include a range of Opel-derived 6-cylinder engines. Many General Motors subsidiaries, including Holden, GM do Brasil and recently GM Powertrain have adopted this design. It is also starting to be used in hot rods as an engine swap.

I... i asked for this on the previous video... did you actually do it??? thank you so much!!!

Longer video please. Would love to hear all the details of the atom. Very cool!!

I was driving down the road in my tercel and all of a sudden I heard a thump n felt something stuck under it so I pulled over n found Jay n his atom scraping along stuck in the wheel well so I got him out helped pull the car out n away he went lol

Jay Leno, you're the man!

miss that sound. Used to have a supercharged cobalt.

3:23 even jay loves the miata

Yo' Jay it's time to revisit this car I think.You CAN do IT!

Hey Mr. Leno, Please add the Aero Kit or buy the 2017 Ariel Atom 3s and then have TMI add the Sadev paddle shift kit.

Can't tell yet - I'm planning on buying a McLaren MP4-12C - i test drove it, it seemed great, like a german car. - But yes many british brands are overpriced for what they give - like Aston Martin. But their designs are astonishing

Would definitely love to have one or the Caterham that's sitting next to it.

Correction Jay: 2.0L Cobalt and the 2.4L Malibu engines are originally engineered by Opel not a Chevy/GM engine. Since GM bought Opel they get to use them ;)

I just went to the Ariel Atom website to check it out and it appears that they have chosen to revert back to the Honda powerplant. GOOD CALL!!!

Thank you for posting.

Jesus Christ, Jay has so much fuckin' money, even his goggles are gold...

Love these video's Jay thanks so much for sharing your love of cars!!

lol jay lenos chin was unfazed by the wind, unlike jeremy clarkson. what a chin!

WTF? such an awesome car, ive been waiting for J to review it. all i get is 5 minutes at 480 with a 360p window in it? im not satisfied... :(

Jay, you have the best life.

that car sounds like a beast!!

Tons more tq and there are a lot more 2.0T's in the 800-900hp range then k24's. Friend of mine is building a RCR superlight with 600+ hp 2.0t. Gonna be nuts.

Opel designed the Ecotec engines. In fact, a significant portion of GM's engineering is done overseas by companies like Opel, Isuzu (Duramax engine) and Daewoo (the Cruze was largely designed by Daewoo and Opel).

Why would you think that? It is the frame that protects you. And trellis frames are incredibly strong.

“ hop in!” Drives away haha

Jay Leno is America's James May, Richard Hammond, and Jeremy Clarkson all in one.

that right there is a third degree BURN!!!

Jay's chin increased the drag coefficient by .02 on that car

very cool.. .Werent you able to use any of your GoPros on it? Would have been better in HD for sure... love your garage and wish I had one tenth of it.

It looks like either a Lotus or Caterham Super Seven in the background. Any chance you could do a video on that?

not only does he drive and own these beauties, he works on them too.

AHH i think saw Jay near Mulholland with this car!

I have always wanted to build something like this, but with a body more reminiscent of a 30's Bugatti or Alfa Romeo, etc, though still retaining a very modern flair. And rather than equip it with a small 4cyl engine, go with something like an aluminum Dart-block based Ford 302ci V8 with ultralight reciprocating assembly so it would rev extremely fast (or even a new 5.0 liter Coyote engine with ultralight reciprocating assembly), yet wouldn't require extreme an extreme amount of horsepower to achieve exceptionally rapid acceleration. Basically keep horsepower/torque in the 650hp/575tq range. Couple itith a 5 or 6 speed manual shift gearbox. Put it all on a lightweight chromoly tube chassis with 4-wheel independent double A-frame suspension (built with properly engineered geometry), adjustable coil-over shocks, large diameter disc brakes (inboard discs in the rear if possible to reduce unsprung weight), a relatively wide track width and as low a center of gravity as possible. Try to keep the final weight of the car around 1800-2000lbs. Run a wide tire on all 4 corners, something very sticky and approx. 9" or 10" tread width (think NASCAR road-coarse car). Build the body from aluminum, possibly fiberglass in some areas if necessary, but avoid carbon-fiber if at all possible. And build the car to handle and accelerate like nothing else on the road, and at speeds people actually drive at. Basically, focus more on handling and accelerating at speeds under 100mph, as this is where you will be actually driving the car on the street. Still retain the ability to achieve 160mph, but keep the focus on speeds you can safely attain, and have fun at, while driving on public roads. Basically try to build something using relatively old technology that will rival the handling and acceleration of a true "super car" without the use of high-end materials and electronics, and end up with the ultimate "low-tech" driver's car. I think this would be a truly awesome experience, and possibly attainable for under $100,000, while rivaling the performance of cars costing 5-10 times as much. I simply wish I had the funding to build it, and a shop properly equipped to do so. But at this point, my 600hp 1990 Mustang is probably as close as I'll get!

Favorite car in Test Drive Unlimited 2.

Is that thing legal to drive on public roads?

Awesome video as usual. I wonder how many speeding tickets Jay has.

It's as quick as a P1 yet only cost 30,000 quid bargain

I like how Jay is funnier impromptu than he is on his show. And nicer usually.

if Jay Leno was on Top Gear USA more people may actually watch it

Seriously bad ass. I'd like to see some home built GOOOO-karts like this.

Thanks, such a beautiful car, I'm researching it now, it has me hooked.

I'd love to see an episode on the blue Seven next to the Atom!!