Discussion
When I first heard of the Atom I managed to find the email address of an owner, so I emailed him with a fairly emotive question!
"What's it really like driving an Atom through a town? What's it like to sit in one against the kirb?"
I would reproduce his reply here but part of it's content might be objectional to a few - I feel the excitement in his reply
He told me how people would hang out of their car windows with digital cameras and when he parked it, kids would come up and stroke it! Can't you just feel the emotion in the reply?
Come on guys, lets have a few more 'feelings' for owning and driving the Atom. I'm busting here and gotta have one, just give me the push!!
Finally, what colour for visual impact?
Regards
John
PS I run my own IT business - just need a few more jobs
>>> Edited by datasafe on Tuesday 26th April 14:46
"What's it really like driving an Atom through a town? What's it like to sit in one against the kirb?"
I would reproduce his reply here but part of it's content might be objectional to a few - I feel the excitement in his reply
He told me how people would hang out of their car windows with digital cameras and when he parked it, kids would come up and stroke it! Can't you just feel the emotion in the reply?
Come on guys, lets have a few more 'feelings' for owning and driving the Atom. I'm busting here and gotta have one, just give me the push!!
Finally, what colour for visual impact?
Regards
John
PS I run my own IT business - just need a few more jobs
>>> Edited by datasafe on Tuesday 26th April 14:46
This is the bit I keep stressing and it isn't mentioned that often. It's bloody wonderful! You'll probably read my comments elswehere on here and on the club site, but step out of an Atom and into any other car and the world changes - suddenly you become anonymous. When you're in an Atom, you are the epicentre of attention. I have actually had someone I drove past do the 'jaw drop' thing for real, and I'd never seen that before in anything else I've ever driven. Your 'first contact' was absolutely right. It can even make driving quite hazardous as people block you in a lane whilst their passengers get their cameraphones out. Andy's come back to his to find people three deep around it! I drive mine a lot in central London, and even to those 'seen it all' metrosexuals, the Atom is something else.
And I can exclusively reveal here that mine is shortly to become a new colour... Arancio Atlas. For those not already in awe, this is the very special Lamborghini metallic orange. Do a google search for the retina-burning outrageousness of this colour or see www.lambocars.com/pnt/paint.htm . There are two reasons why I'm going for this colour. Firstly, I just like Atoms in mad, bright colours - see my previous turquoise one. Secondly, you come up behind other cars very fast and they need to be able to see you coming. A black Atom is almost invisible on a wet road.
Whatever age you are, you'll always be a big kid in an Atom - you just can't help yourself! Go on... you know you want to...
Oh, and when you join the Owners Club, you can add your business to the owners network for free if that helps. And putting your website on your profile wouldn't hurt either!
And I can exclusively reveal here that mine is shortly to become a new colour... Arancio Atlas. For those not already in awe, this is the very special Lamborghini metallic orange. Do a google search for the retina-burning outrageousness of this colour or see www.lambocars.com/pnt/paint.htm . There are two reasons why I'm going for this colour. Firstly, I just like Atoms in mad, bright colours - see my previous turquoise one. Secondly, you come up behind other cars very fast and they need to be able to see you coming. A black Atom is almost invisible on a wet road.
Whatever age you are, you'll always be a big kid in an Atom - you just can't help yourself! Go on... you know you want to...
Oh, and when you join the Owners Club, you can add your business to the owners network for free if that helps. And putting your website on your profile wouldn't hurt either!
Wonderful colour Bruce, very striking.
I must confess the majority of the Atoms in the gallery section are black - it does look good.
I recall from my many years in the 'old bill' that black was the most frequently involved in accidents and yellow the least. I guess one could easilly argue there are far more black cars on the road than yellow.
I do love to read the more passionate descriptions of owning, testing and driving the car. I downloaded the Jeremy Clarkson test drive from Top Gear - is wonderful to listen to him as his face is being 'ripped off'.
I'm 52 and I've watched that video more than a couple of times, I've even transferred it to my PDA phone and watch it on there too!
I believe you mentioned in a previous post a recording from a Channel 5 programme of yesterday (26th April) would be posted somewhere on here. I missed the programme so would be very interested to know where this can be downloaded.
At 52 I guess I should be past racing and posing too but there's just something about the Atom that puts it in a class of it's own and beyond any of the competition. Lets face it, for a road car there simply nothing that comes close.
BTW, the cheques in the post!!
Cheers
John
PS Just a day after discussing my local race circuit at Llandow near Cowbridge it was just announced on the news that a man aged 60 was killed on the circuit today!
I must confess the majority of the Atoms in the gallery section are black - it does look good.
I recall from my many years in the 'old bill' that black was the most frequently involved in accidents and yellow the least. I guess one could easilly argue there are far more black cars on the road than yellow.
I do love to read the more passionate descriptions of owning, testing and driving the car. I downloaded the Jeremy Clarkson test drive from Top Gear - is wonderful to listen to him as his face is being 'ripped off'.
I'm 52 and I've watched that video more than a couple of times, I've even transferred it to my PDA phone and watch it on there too!
I believe you mentioned in a previous post a recording from a Channel 5 programme of yesterday (26th April) would be posted somewhere on here. I missed the programme so would be very interested to know where this can be downloaded.
At 52 I guess I should be past racing and posing too but there's just something about the Atom that puts it in a class of it's own and beyond any of the competition. Lets face it, for a road car there simply nothing that comes close.
BTW, the cheques in the post!!
Cheers
John
PS Just a day after discussing my local race circuit at Llandow near Cowbridge it was just announced on the news that a man aged 60 was killed on the circuit today!
Some info on the crash at Llandow here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4486739.stm
Bruce Fielding said:Service station on the M5 - more people outside looking at the car than in the service station itself! Was actually a bit of a pain on that occasion - couldn't really sit in the car quietly and eat my sandwiches! A guy from one of those RAC stands saw me with my helmet and came up to me and asked if I'd got breakdown cover for my bike ...then saw the car and completely forgot about trying to sell me breakdown cover!! Maybe he saw the Honda badge and realised there was no point...
Andy's come back to his to find people three deep around it!
Must be something in the air at Llandow - every kart meeting I've been to there has had the Air Ambulance pay a visit, though thankfully none of the karting incidents proved fatal.
Oh, and regarding posing value, the most satisfying thing to do has to got to be to drive past McDonalds when all the boy-racers are parked there in their Novas-with-Neons. If you want to make them feel really silly, take the Atom through the Drive-Thru, then sit there eating your "food" in your car ...they usually give up their posing and go home!
>> Edited by atom120 on Tuesday 26th April 20:57
>> Edited by atom120 on Tuesday 26th April 20:57
Noted the comments on Llandow Circuit.
The owners of the circuit are good friends of mine and I'm sure they'll be dreadfully upset by the incident today.
As for the karting circuit - it really is a very fast track when compared to the many indoor ones. I wasn't aware there were such frequent incidents there! I guess it's understandable when someone gets into one of the karts for the first time. and after a few confidence building laps starts to let go.
I do like reading the memoires of you Atom owners, I can sort of feel that excitement. I recall when I bought my scooby 2 years ago, driving it was such fun, it still is but the novelty wears off a little.
My wife is all for an Atom, just need to sort the finances.
Not that it's any concern to me just now, but what is the timescale from order to delivery at the moment?
John
I'm down in Burwash near Etchingham for the Bank holiday weekend - any meets or Atom's nearby?
>> Edited by datasafe on Tuesday 26th April 21:25
The owners of the circuit are good friends of mine and I'm sure they'll be dreadfully upset by the incident today.
As for the karting circuit - it really is a very fast track when compared to the many indoor ones. I wasn't aware there were such frequent incidents there! I guess it's understandable when someone gets into one of the karts for the first time. and after a few confidence building laps starts to let go.
I do like reading the memoires of you Atom owners, I can sort of feel that excitement. I recall when I bought my scooby 2 years ago, driving it was such fun, it still is but the novelty wears off a little.
My wife is all for an Atom, just need to sort the finances.
Not that it's any concern to me just now, but what is the timescale from order to delivery at the moment?
John
I'm down in Burwash near Etchingham for the Bank holiday weekend - any meets or Atom's nearby?
>> Edited by datasafe on Tuesday 26th April 21:25
timescale for delivery : about end september.
they have a lot of work but plan to increase the capacity in the new factory building (much more place) and take 1 or 2 men more to build new Atom.
They want to be able to regulary deliver between 8 and 12 weeks at the end of this year.
Remember that they had double the production in the last 12 months ...
they have a lot of work but plan to increase the capacity in the new factory building (much more place) and take 1 or 2 men more to build new Atom.
They want to be able to regulary deliver between 8 and 12 weeks at the end of this year.
Remember that they had double the production in the last 12 months ...
datasafe said:
As for the karting circuit - it really is a very fast track when compared to the many indoor ones. I wasn't aware there were such frequent incidents there! I guess it's understandable when someone gets into one of the karts for the first time.
For the sake of Ken and everyone who runs the kart circuit there, I should probably have pointed out that the accidents weren't using the arrive-and-drive corporate karts ...but were all at full MSA race meetings ...full of people with their own machinery who really should know better!! Watching a 100kg kart flip and land on top of a 12 year-old girl was somewhat scary. Fortunately she's a tough wee Jock, and after getting us to weld the kart back together, borrow a new helmet off someone, and tell the St John's Ambulance people to "go leave me alone" she was back on the track within an hour!! Linda Playfair ...if you ever come across her, watch out!
Generally speaking, arrive-and-drive karting is pretty safe, and Llandow's certainly one of the safer circuits.
Bruce Fielding said:
And I can exclusively reveal here that mine is shortly to become a new colour... Arancio Atlas. For those not already in awe, this is the very special Lamborghini metallic orange. Do a google search for the retina-burning outrageousness of this colour
I'm sorry, I can't help myself... I'm really excited... it's in the paintshop now, and Mr Da Vinci and I have gone for an even more extreme Lambo orange - Arancio Borealis. This is the slightly burnt orange metallic pearlescent, as seen on the new Gallardo. For reference, see this:
I hope to have pics up in the Gallery by the weekend... sunglasses (or shoggles) at the ready...
>> Edited by Bruce Fielding on Wednesday 25th May 18:10
Sadly I don't fit into a Lambo - or any other 'supercar' for that matter. The top of the windscreen is always directly in my eye line.
A decent respray of the nose, cowl and airbox takes between 12 and 16 hours, plus 1/2 litre of paint, plus sundries, plus VAT. So, the cost depends on how much you pay for labour and what paint you go for. Flat colours are about £30 a half litre, TVR type flip paint is £250 a half litre! Then you have lacquer on top.
So I can't really tell you how much it costs, but somewhere between £350 and £800 seems about right.
A decent respray of the nose, cowl and airbox takes between 12 and 16 hours, plus 1/2 litre of paint, plus sundries, plus VAT. So, the cost depends on how much you pay for labour and what paint you go for. Flat colours are about £30 a half litre, TVR type flip paint is £250 a half litre! Then you have lacquer on top.
So I can't really tell you how much it costs, but somewhere between £350 and £800 seems about right.
Don't do it.
I did once and I didn't get away with it!
The black mudguards blend into the wheels and give the car that 'open wheel' look. With a colour on them, they stand out and give the whole thing a different feel.
See the Mk1 pics in the gallery for an extreme example
All IMHO of course...
I did once and I didn't get away with it!
The black mudguards blend into the wheels and give the car that 'open wheel' look. With a colour on them, they stand out and give the whole thing a different feel.
See the Mk1 pics in the gallery for an extreme example
All IMHO of course...
For me, this thred is one of the most exciting and emotive.
I love to hear how others 'feel' about owning and driving their Atoms.
I loved to read when one stated how it was rather embarrassing sitting in his Atom eating his sandwiches whilst a growing audience looked on
Another mentioned how people would hand from the windows of their cars to take pictures with their mobile phones and how when he was parked, children used to come alongs and stroke it - the scaffolding I mean!
So what other experiences do you guys have? I've got all this to come and I look forward to it.
John
PS I even had a senior partner in a large accountancy firm asking if I'd take their star employee/customer for an hours drive ......
I love to hear how others 'feel' about owning and driving their Atoms.
I loved to read when one stated how it was rather embarrassing sitting in his Atom eating his sandwiches whilst a growing audience looked on
Another mentioned how people would hand from the windows of their cars to take pictures with their mobile phones and how when he was parked, children used to come alongs and stroke it - the scaffolding I mean!
So what other experiences do you guys have? I've got all this to come and I look forward to it.
John
PS I even had a senior partner in a large accountancy firm asking if I'd take their star employee/customer for an hours drive ......
OK. Pics of the Orange Atom have been posted on the Atomclub website gallery.
I'm not sure about it, but it's growing on me. The Lambo Orange which looks outrageous in large swathes on a lambo's shanks looks quite restrained on the Atom, and I'm debating whether I want it a bit more lairy.
The front is going to have to be resprayed anyway, as the deliberate mistake - 'I thought it looked nicer that way up' - by the paint shop leaves the logo under the lacquer to be redone. Bugger! Still, it gives me time to reflect.
As with all pearlescents, the photos don't really do it justice, but you can get an idea of the range of shades that the paint allows.
More lairy?
Keep it stylish?
What do you think?
It's a difficult one... especially for me
I'm not sure about it, but it's growing on me. The Lambo Orange which looks outrageous in large swathes on a lambo's shanks looks quite restrained on the Atom, and I'm debating whether I want it a bit more lairy.
The front is going to have to be resprayed anyway, as the deliberate mistake - 'I thought it looked nicer that way up' - by the paint shop leaves the logo under the lacquer to be redone. Bugger! Still, it gives me time to reflect.
As with all pearlescents, the photos don't really do it justice, but you can get an idea of the range of shades that the paint allows.
More lairy?
Keep it stylish?
What do you think?
It's a difficult one... especially for me
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