Ariel Atom V8 at Final Stages of Development

The Ariel Atom has been nothing short of face melting. So when news of an Ariel Atom V8 emerged, we can just all speculate what it’d do to the driver’s face should that poor bastard decide not to wear a helmet.

Anyway, the question would probably be answered real soon as the car gets to its near-production stage.

Powering the Atom V8 is a 3.0L supercharged V8 from Hartley. Ariel, however, modified the engine extensively to get a power output north of 500 bhp. Ariel initially intended supercharging a 2.4L V8 but wasn’t satisfied with the power output.

The engine, combined with the Atom’s light weight, the car can get to 60 mph from standstill in less than 3 seconds and blow past 200 mph.

Ariel claims that it can produce more power from the engine but balanced it out for the sake of usability. The car is expected to cost £110,000.