There is no ‘official’ British motor show these days but the Goodwood Festival of Speed has pretty much adopted the position.
Away from the big shows, there’s no better place in Europe to see new metal, and nowhere else you can see cars in motion as you can in the South Downs every summer.
The timing, incidentally, makes it the ‘right’ time of year for a British show too: falling pretty much equally between the Geneva show and before the Paris/Frankfurt date. These days, we can’t afford to miss it as a news opportunity.
769bhp Apollo Intensa Emozione hypercar makes Goodwood premiere
It was good, then, to spend a bit of time around the new Ariel Atom 4 and the people who engineered it over the Goodwood weekend. While the 4 is immediately recognisable as an Atom, see a picture of Atom 3.5 and Atom 4 together and it’s striking how dated the 3.5 suddenly looks. I think that’s partly the new, bigger wheels and tyres, and certainly the bigger frame diameter.
There’s a greater muscularity to it. Ariel has a habit of getting things right. With the Atom, Nomad and, perhaps to a lesser degree, its Ace motorcycle, it hits on niches and fills them deftly, avoiding taking on multinationals and the big players head-to-head while it’s at it.
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Gargae Man
Apollo
Matt you miss the point completely on these types of cars.They are for those people who don't necessarily buy art for the walls but mechanical art for the 5 car garage.These vehicles are then taken for a "drive" on a beautiful spring/summers day for maybe 50miles,then placed back on the vehicle doona,and admired.I watched a Lifestyle program on a exclusive hotel in Mayfair,I think,which showed a customers car (Veyron) under a dust cover in the exclusive car park,and it's never moved.Documentary,Inside Bentley,and a very wealthy client who was picking up his 7th,yes 7th Continental Sports, what ever.When asked why he replied,I like them.
Would you really drive an Apollo 4/5 days a week in normal traffic,I wouldn't.
Each to his/her own.
Deputy
Profit Margins
RednBlue
Biggest costs for cars are R
Biggest costs for cars are R&D and Tooling. A small car company cannnot produce its own engine from scratch if you want a reasonably priced car and not a 200k list price. A 3.0 NA V12 would be simply unthinkable in such a context. Your description of your ideal car reminds me about the V10 2.0 Connaught Type-D GT Syracuse. Not a great sales success... actually never made it to production.
Hughbl
Matt - I have the ideal car for you
It's a refurbished Jaguar E-Type, and fits your requirements (although may stretch your budget).
https://www.pistonheads.com/news/general/jaguar-e-type-s3-gets-288hp-6-1-litre-v12/38492
habldksht
front engined RWD size of GT86
Ginetta? They have road going version?
eseaton
I love your car Matt. Minc
e would be the saloon version, and would rev to 8000. But otherwise the same. Analogue and engineering focused.
All that considered, I'm surprised you were so enthused today by the somewhat gross M5 Competition.
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