Ariel (vehicle) - Cars

Cars

Cars were produced over two periods: from 1900 to 1915, and again from 1922 to 1925.

The first proper Ariel car was a 10 hp (7.5 kW) twin-cylinder car produced in 1902. In 1903, their first four-cylinder was a 16 hp model. Both these vehicles had a leather cone clutch that was entirely separate from the flywheel. A six-cylinder model, built on a seemingly inadequate tube-frame chassis, entered production early in 1904.

An entirely new range was announced at the end of 1905; called the "Aero-Simplex", these cars were Mercedes inspired four-cylinder designs of 15 hp and 25/30 hp and a six of 35/40 hp. In 1907–1908 the company began production of the monstrous 50/60 hp six, which offered an engine of 15.9 litres for a chassis price of £950. In 1907 Ariel sold its Birmingham factory to the French Lorraine-Dietrich company who wanted to enter the British market, and thereafter had its cars assembled at the Coventry Ordnance Works, a branch of Cammell Laird. The arrangement with Lorraine-Dietrich was cancelled in 1910. Production of a 1.3-litre light car was quashed by the outbreak of World War I.

After 1918 the company tried one last, abortive attempt to cash in on the small car market with the Ariel Nine designed by Jack Sangster, the son of the owner, who had previously worked for Rover where he designed the similar but air-cooled, twin-cylinder Rover Eight. It was launched in 1922 and featured a flat-twin, water-cooled engine of 996 cc and was capable of 55 mph. About 700 were made. It was joined by the 1097 cc four-cylinder Ariel Ten in 1922 with the gearbox combined with the rear axle. The car was advertised at £180 for the chassis and about 250 were made until in 1926 Ariel abandoned the car market to concentrate on motorcycles.

The new company using the old Ariel name makes only a single model, the Atom, a minimalistic 2-seater road going sports car.