evilatom.com - the buying process

The Order / Buying Process

Each car is built-to-order for a specific customer. There is no stock or base model, as each is unique depending on the options & configuration chosen by the owner. This is why most media reviews of the car will usually mention a differing price for the car.

When someone considers this car for purchase, there is no showroom available. You won't find any on a lot that you can test drive, purchase, and take home with you that day. None of the cars are produced prior to order. Once an order is placed, the typical wait can be from 4 to 6 months. When I ordered mine, the factory was building them at a rate of two per week and demand did exceed this rate of production.

Here's the process that I went through and the associated timeline.

2007/01/24 - placed order for 2007 Ariel Atom 2 & wired initial payment/deposit. Time estimated until arrival of car: 212 days.
At time of order the current wait, build, and delivery time is 212 days. The factory was producing cars at the rate of two per week.
Options selected: GM 2.0 Liter 300hp 250 ft/lbs Supercharged Engine | Sport Brake Package |
Black Body Panels | Lexan Side Panels | Standard Fenders | Team Dynamics Silver 12-spoke Wheels
Twin Bubble Windscreen | Road Race Lighting | Self-Assembly Kit
2007/03/21 - Day 55 - sent in 2nd of 4 payments and car is now half paid.
2007/05/11 - Day 105 - build status on Brammo website has changed to fabrication.
2007/05/25 - Day 119 - sent in 3rd of 4 payments.
2007/05/31 - Day 125 - sent in the final payment. With the car paid in full, requested bill of sale and all paperwork so that I can get started with my state's registration process (which is said can take up to 8 weeks). It would be great to have registration completed and have the plates so that I can fly out to the factory, handle the necessary self-assembly, and drive it home.
2007/06/7 - Day 132 - Received the first photos of the car from Brammo (can be seen in the gallery HERE). The Brammo website status now reflects assembly, so it looks like progress has made a very quick leap (past the statuses of weld, rotisserie, powdercoat, and assembly queue).
2007/06/21 - Day 146 - Received bill of sale and all paperwork from Brammo, and submitted applications for title & registration at my local DMV. We'll see how this goes, as it may take extra time due to the DMV's lack of familiarity with the car. I was able to get a 90-day temporary plate so I'll eventually be able to drive the car from Brammo in Ashland Oregon to my home in Wisconsin.
2007/06/29 - Day 154 - Received more photos of the car (can be seen in the gallery HERE). Assembly continues.
2007/07/12 - Day 167 - Got "the call" today from Brammo and the manufacturing is done. Booked a plane ticket on Orbitz for Thursday night, 7/20. Planning to be at Brammo early Friday morning, 7/21.
2007/07/20 through 2007/7/23 - Flew to Brammo in Ashland Oregon and met Jeff there - a good friend and long-time fellow car club member. Got a tour of the facilities, handled the necessary self-assembly, and took turns behind the wheel driving the car home to central WI. The trip was approximately 2300 miles and took just over 33 hours of driving. It was quite an adventure, with desert hot temperatures, bad food, a few mechanical gremlins, a couple of interesting hotels, roadkill, lightning and pouring rain, freezing cold, and of course, sleep deprivation. Overall, it was very enjoyable and worth the effort. Photos and video of the trip can be seen in the gallery HERE.
2007/7/23 to present - drive until my face hurts from the grin, wait for it to wear off, then repeat. You can see photos from a number of events that I've participated in with the car in the gallery.