Only In China: DIY Atom

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Does this look like the Ariel Atom, the “race car for the road,” you know, the one in which one journalist got killed? It does, but it isn’t. It’s a homemade Atom. Made in China. In a shed.

This is the real Ariel Atom.

This is the daughter of the builder. And the car being built.

Rest of the story with reams of pictures at Carnewschina.com, which documented the building process from raw pipe to finished dream.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Tekdemon Tekdemon on Jan 07, 2012

    Oh man, I've driven and ridden in some pretty frightening contraptions before...nearly died when I was riding shotgun in a ghetto buggy driving on regular truck-filled roads and a bunch of kids threw water balloons at the driver which distracted him almost enough for us to go flying off the road. This thing actually manages to look even more insanely dangerous. So mad respect for the guy who built it but damned if I'm going anywhere near the sharp sheetmetal covered excuse to kill yourself.

  • Fiasco Fiasco on Jan 07, 2012

    Officially awesome. What class would that thing run in LeMons?

  • SCE to AUX I've never been teased by a bumper like that one before.
  • 3SpeedAutomatic R&T could have killed the story before it was released.Now, by pulling it after the fact, they look like idiots!! What's new??
  • Master Baiter "That said, the Inflation Reduction Act apparently does run afoul of WTO rules..."Pfft. The Biden administration doesn't care about rules. The Supreme Court said they couldn't forgive student load debt; they did it anyway. Decorum and tradition says you don't prosecute former presidents; they are doing it anyway. They made the CDC suspend evictions though they had no constitutional authority to do so.
  • 1995 SC Good. To misquote Sheryl Crow "If it makes them unhappy, it can't be that bad"
  • 1995 SC The letters on the hatch aren't big enough. hard pass
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