Fear is also ramped up by having all that carbon strapped within easy reach of speed bumps and kerbstones. Ditto the fluorescent orange KTM, but with ease turned up to 11 by dint of the VW turbo engine (low noise, gentle pedal response, general nonchalance, etc). Tiny and agile, it zips and zaps around these streets, whipcracks out of junctions, and laps up the whole experience. With 270bhp produced from just 1998cc, it should idle lumpily and chunter at low revs, but then you remember that Honda built it and instead marvel at its tractability and pure throttle response. Chiefly because it's got ground clearance and you can see exactly where each wheel is at all times by simply turning your head. In fact the idea of just driving them, amongst the late-night heckling and drugged-up stares, is largely unappealing. The finish is beautiful, and if I had to choose one of these to have an accident in, it would be the one that sounded like teak when tapped.Ĭrashing any car that fails so utterly to separate you from your surroundings (especially pointy bits of street furniture) doesn’t really bear thinking about.
The Austrian-born KTM, wrought in carbon fibre rather than steel and with a similarly scant smattering of bodywork to cover its nether regions, has the capacity to cause shock and awe when viewed close up. It's the most at home in the Manc scene, which can't be bad for a car designed and built in Somerset. "Pretty scaffolding," notes the evening's most eloquent passer-by, casting an eye over the Atom. Later, when time is called on photography, it'll be the first to spear out of town, back alongside the ship canal, bored-out 1500cc Suzuki bike engine finally able to vocalise the higher points of its strident rev range. Hemmed in by jeers and catcalls, the Radical sits there, grumpy and ill-tempered. The big wing seems comical, the fact you can't get the toe of a stiletto under the front splitter causes hilarity, those who ask to see the engine are amused that it involves two of us, 10 clips and disconnecting the rear lights. It looks ridiculous out here and feels ridiculous, too. Not the Radical, though, which fights such flighty notions with every fibre of its racing being. You could, with not too much of a stretch, see them being owned by trendy types who inhabit inner-city loft apartments - maybe even mounted on an exposed brick wall as some sort of art installation. The Ariel and KTM have a strut and funk about them that lends itself to the urban environment - at heart, they're beautiful bits of industrial design as much as cars. Manchester doesn't really care about the figures, Manchester focuses (only barely, in most cases) on the visuals. One revs to well over 10,000rpm, another hits 60mph in under three seconds all will top 150mph and are built in tiny numbers. Combined, they weigh just 1,920kg and develop 830bhp. Convincing the authorities that this can be driven on the public highway can't have been easy.Īll are mid-engined, all have six-speed gearboxes, five-point harnesses and not a sniff of weather protection. This is not Radical's new road-going SL announced a few months ago, but a hardcore RS that's had the necessary SL bits added to make it road legal. But it's our final contender that's making the early running with the local populace.
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