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I saw a tube framed, open wheeled, rear or mid engined car on the interstate today. I've seen it in magazines. It's very light and I believe has a Japanese engine and transaxel. What was it? Can anyone help me? TIA  

Was it the Ariel Atom?  
Check www.arielatom.com

This is an incredible vehicle!  I can't believe it made it to the States, with all the nasty safety regulations here.  I wish there were more of these superlight bare-bones cars for sale here, with an unspoken understanding that in the case of a bad accident, you'll be history.

Anyways, this thing is faster than many supercars, mainly due to its featherweight 1300 lbs.  In Europe, it comes with a high revving Honda engine, but I think in America we can only get it with a supercharged GM powerplant from the Cobalt SS.  The first time I heard about this thing was on BBC's Top Gear.  You can see the story on Youtube if you search under the words "top gear ariel atom" and you will be highly entertained!  

Sounds like the Ariel Atom to me too, although there isn't much else like it!  

i don't know...kinda looks like an overpriced go cart to me....just my opinion  

Oh yeah, it's way overpriced!  I mean, you get a frame, an engine, a couple of seats, some wheels and suspension, and a gearbox with pedals and steering wheel so you can drive it.  Sounds exactly like a go-cart.  A $40k go-cart.  C'mon!  The sum total of it's parts can't come even CLOSE to adding up to that kind of money!  But I guess with the performance numbers that this car puts down, the manufacturers can expect hardcore enthusiasts to pay it.

I wonder, though, if the Atom was significantly cheaper (like under $20k), how many more customers could they get?  Could it steal sales from sportbike manufacturers, or are motorcycles so fundamentally different from their four-wheeled counterparts that it wouldn't matter?