Currently reading: 2015 Ariel Nomad – price, spec, pics and video
Nomad all-terrain car makes its debut at the Autosport International show in Birmingham; on sale this summer, priced from £30,000 and able to reach 60mph in 3.4sec

Ariel’s stunning new £30k Ariel Nomad, the lightweight, Atom-based on and off-roader launched at this week’s Autosport International show at Birmingham’s NEC, will offer an entirely new type of all-terrain high-performance driving when it hits the market this summer, its creators say.

The car is powered by a 2.4-litre, long-stroke four-cylinder Honda engine (used in high-end versions of the Accord) that has been configured with Ariel electronics to help it produce 235bhp at 7200rpm. Its torque output of 221lb ft is especially impressive as it matches that of the supercharged 2.0-litre Ariel Atom, which is one of the fastest cars on the road. 

Latest specifications, just issued, list the Nomad’s weight at a modest 670kg, despite the bigger wheels and tyres, extra rollover protection, bulkier long-travel suspension and chassis modifications needed for it to cope with off-road use.

The result is a car with an on-road 0-60mph sprint time of just 3.4sec and a 125mph top speed, which should make it capable of beating fully fledged rally cars both on the special off-road courses where they are developed and in actual motorsport events.

Ariel boss Simon Saunders thinks most Nomads will be bought for recreational driving both on and off road, but the car has the credentials to achieves success in rally competition. Saunders believes a well set up Nomad could eventually compete “with honour” in the Dakar Rally, not necessarily winning but at least reaching the finish in good shape.

Ariel has toyed with the idea of a Nomad-style vehicle since the early days of the Atom, but the job of continuing the development of the Atom, coupled with the launch of the highly successful Ace motorcycle, kept intruding.

However, the Nomad project made progress in recent times when taken on by the Ariel founder’s son, Henry Siebert-Saunders, whose interest in off-roading encouraged him to complete the prototype and lead its development on terrain normally reserved for conventional, slow and heavy 4x4s.

“We’ve tested the Nomad on a variety of race circuits and proving grounds, as well as on various private tracks including well known WRC stages, winch challenge courses and closed forest roads,” said Siebert-Saunders.

“The idea was to subject our two-wheel-drive car to tests worthy of a conventional 4x4, because we reckoned its compactness, torque and light weight would compensate for its lack of four-wheel drive. So far we’ve been right and the Nomad has lapped it up, to the extent that the whole thing adds up to a whole new kind of driving fun.”

The close resemblance of the Nomad’s essential structure to that of the Atom’s original bronze-welded chassis is obvious, but the Nomad also has an enveloping rollover structure that conveniently provides A-pillars for an optional windscreen.

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The instrument pod, gearlever for the six-speed manual transmission and the pedal box are all recognisable, while the completely different suspension layout ditches the Atom’s inboard set-up to provide the much longer travel and carry the much fatter and taller wheels and tyres needed by a car with the Nomad’s priorities.

The car features a selection of abbreviated polythene body panels, including a nose cone, engine cover, damper covers, mudguards and bonnet. Standard cars keep many of these panels black — as Atoms do — but owners will be able to choose from a wide number of custom variations, including a variety of colours for the tubular chassis frames. Add-ons such as roof lights, nerf bars, luggage racks and special exhausts are certain to be popular.

There are likely to be optional seats, too, although the standard set-up, closely related to an original Atom’s one-piece moulding for two people, is attractive and space-efficient.

As with the Atom, owners will be offered a wide selection of optional dampers, brakes and wheel/tyre combinations, although the prototype’s 235/75 R15 tyres have proved to be well up to the job. Siebert-Saunders confirmed to Autocar at the Autosport International show that there is scope for increased adjustability on future Nomad models.

"Inevitably, we will go the same route we have with the Atom, as the Nomad is a fixed set-up at the moment," he said. "We could make the Nomad more adjustable."

As with the Atom, Ariel says it plans to build up to 100 examples per year of the Nomad.

Read the Ariel Nomad review here.

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Steve Cropley

Steve Cropley Autocar
Title: Editor-in-chief

Steve Cropley is the oldest of Autocar’s editorial team, or the most experienced if you want to be polite about it. He joined over 30 years ago, and has driven many cars and interviewed many people in half a century in the business. 

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Leslie Brook 10 January 2015

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fix it please
5wheels 9 January 2015

Rallying and Dakar

As an ex rally driver of 12 years experience in greece Tнis little bugger makes me really smile and want to play again. My questions are. (1) will it be нomologated for rallying (2) is tнere a 4WD in tнe works.
By tнe way - tнe driver in tнe video is seriously rusbbis
5wheels 9 January 2015

Rally it

Well as an ex rally driver witн 12 years нistory in Greece I would LOVE to нave a set of keys to tнis. But my questions are = can it нave 4wd in tнe future. If tнey tнink about it - Dakar and rallying are wнere tнis macнine belong - not really on tнe road but road use for rallying is important to tнe clubman By tнe way - tнe video, fire tнe driver нe is rubbisн