[Richard230]

Attached are photos of a new Arel Atom 3 vehicle (is it a car?) that was parked across from Alice's Restaurant. It must be new because it has a paper license plate which the dealer gives you when you buy the vehicle so that you can be billed for crossing Bay Area bridges and freeway toll lanes. Eventually a real metal license plate will arrive - hopefully in your mail box and not in someone else's box. 

[AzCal Retred]

4 wheels = car, crazy big HP and very light chassis = FUN!!!   

[him a layin]

that looks like fun...

[GlennF]

4 wheels = car, crazy big HP and very light chassis = FUN!!!   

Kind of sounds a bit like a Shelby Cobra .

[Karl Childers]

I'm not a "car guy" but I bet spending an afternoon on some twisty mountain roads in that thing would be a good time.

[Richard230]

I'm not a "car guy" but I bet spending an afternoon on some twisty mountain roads in that thing would be a good time.

 

That is likely why the owner has a new car paper plate on his Atom that expired 5 years ago. 

Looking up the Atom 3 on Wikipedia, this is what it says about the Atom 3: The Atom 3 appeared in 2007, utilizing the Honda Civic drivetrain.

[AzCal Retred]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariel_Atom

Curb weight   612 kg (1,349 lb)
Engine(s):
2.4 L 245- bhp naturally aspirated or 300bhp supercharged Honda i-VTEC (US)
2.4 L 230-bhp naturally aspirated or 365-bhp turbocharged Honda K24Z7 i-VTEC
2.0 L 321-bhp turbocharged (direct injection) Honda K20C1 i-VTEC
Transmission: 6-speed sequential manual

Design origins
The Atom began as a student project by Coventry University transport design student Niki Smart. Known then as the LSC (Lightweight Sports Car), it was developed at the university in 1996 with input and funding from various automotive industry members, including British Steel and TWR. Ariel Motor Company boss Simon Saunders was a senior lecturer whose responsibility for the project was primarily as financial manager and design critic for Smart, whom he described as "The best all-round design student I've ever seen." The car was first shown publicly at the British International Motor Show at the NEC in Birmingham in October 1996.[5]

Acceleration
In 2005 Track and Race Car magazine published the results of a comprehensive test of a range of cars, from the Porsche 911 Carrera S, Ford GT, BMW M5 to the Caterham CSR 260. The supercharged Ariel Atom 2 won the 0–161–0 km/h (0–100–0 mph) test by a clear margin at 10.88 seconds, ahead of the Caterham CSR 260 (11.41) and the Ford GT in fourth (13.17).

The following year, the Atom won Autocar's 0–100 mph challenge as the new Ariel Atom 2 300 bhp supercharged edition achieved a time of 6.86 seconds, and then stopped from 100 in 3.8 seconds. At the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, the Atom broke the indoor speed record.[7] The high gloss floor that the cars ran on was only 220 m (720 ft) long, with an open door at the end of the hall. The driver of the Atom launched in fourth gear and still had wheelspin until the car reached 110 km/h (68 mph) and started to get traction. The Atom was beaten only by a class nine Autograss car powered by a 2.0l Lexus-Toyota touring car engine which set the official indoor speed record, beating the previous record held by a Toyota F1 car driven by Toyota's test driver Olivier Panis dressed as Top Gear's driver The Stig.[citation needed]

The Sunday Times measured the time taken for the Atom to accelerate from 0 to 97 km/h (60 mph) at 2.89 seconds, making it the world's third-fastest accelerating production car then available, after the Bugatti Veyron's 2.46 seconds[8] and the Ultima GTR at 2.6 seconds;[9] the review was in 2005.

https://www.arielna.com/arielatom-3s
Atom 3S Specifications
PERFORMANCE
1450 lbs
• 0-60mph: <2.8 sec • 0-100mph: 6.7 sec
• 1/4 mile: ≈ 10.7 sec • VIR Full Course: 1:58
• 365 bhp @7500 RPM • 310 lbs/ft torque @4400 RPM
Starting at $95,775