Yesterday while delivering pies, I saw what can best be described as a street legal oversized go kart. It had a removeable top side mirrors tail lights indicators etc. When I say oversized go kart I mean it was smaller than my smart, but bigger than a regular go kart. The engine was rear mounted, but wasn't a VW flat 4. If I had to guess the dimensions it was probably 5ft wide by 8ft long. The car was seen on St. Andrews Church Rd. in Louisville, KY for the folks around here. Any ideas what this thing was???
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June 18, 2008 2:52 p.m. bigbrainonbrad New Reader
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June 18, 2008 3:06 p.m. Stargazer HalfDork
Ariel Atom
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June 18, 2008 3:26 p.m. confuZion3 Reader
Yeah. Probably an Atom.
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June 18, 2008 4:10 p.m. Jake HalfDork
A Lotus 340R fits that general description as well.
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June 18, 2008 4:21 p.m. neon4891 HalfDork
the atom...I NEED ONE, U.S. street legal?
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June 18, 2008 4:23 p.m. littleturquoiseb Reader
The Atom dosn't have a roof does it? Lotus wasn't federalized?
My money is on a VW based Street Rod/sand rail...
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June 18, 2008 4:48 p.m. neon4891 HalfDork
yes, and im sure you could do up a very nice VW based machine for Far less than the $88k an atom costs
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June 18, 2008 8:01 p.m. Stargazer HalfDork
I thought the Atom retail in the $40-50k range? Is that $88k with dealer markup?
It's not US street legal as purchased, but it can be made to be. Not sure what it takes, but I've seen one driven on the street.
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June 18, 2008 8:10 p.m. Apexcarver New Reader
i had the prices for a brammo atom awhile back.. it ranges from the 40-50 to the almost 90 based on engine options. IIRC if you really know i can look back through my email a few years back.
i like them, but they are so expensive that I could design and build my own for alot cheaper... enough to justify the time investment to me..
what with someone working on the hayabusa v8 option..
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June 18, 2008 8:40 p.m. jamscal HalfDork
This is Kentucky. Everything is street legal.
I saw a two guys on pocket bikes racing down the street yesterday.
-James
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June 18, 2008 9:17 p.m. Gearheadotaku None
Some sort of street legal kart could be the answer to cheap on gas communiting for those of us who don't have the talent to ride a motorcycle. Something bigger than a shifter kart, smaller than a golf cart. Seat 2 people and cruise at 60mph. Not the best answer for a long ride on the freeway, but keep up with faster in town traffic. Toss on a helmet and it couldn't be worse than a motorcycle from a safety standpoint right?
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June 18, 2008 9:21 p.m. aeronca65t New Reader
Here's at Atom I saw at a Pocono NASA event a few weeks ago. Did it look like this?
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June 18, 2008 9:23 p.m. P90Puma Reader
Ever notice how high a bike is ridden? A street legal kart would never work in north america.
They are legal in germany, how awesome would that be.
I will own a 340R in 7 years at the max, earlier if I leave Canada. < /340R>
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June 18, 2008 9:28 p.m. neon4891 HalfDork
I got the 88K figure from Mr. Leno's article,so a normal persons version might be less
drive a factory five with no body work?
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June 19, 2008 7:32 a.m. bigbrainonbrad New Reader
Definately wasn't an atom. I had the hunch that it was a kit car. Proportions wise it was comparably tall with the plastic top on. The rear mounted engine was as I salready said definately not flat 4, from the sound of it most likely an inline 4. The overall look was very clean and professionally-done looking.
A previous poster mentioned how a street legal go kart would be a great way to mitigate high prices at the pump, I agree completely. Just upsize the dimension and stick any old small displacement engine out back and you'd have and incredibly fuel efficient machine.
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June 19, 2008 9:49 a.m. Clay Reader
When I was in London, I saw folks commuting on 4-wheelers! I didn't get a close enough look at them to see if they had tags, street tires, etc, but it was definitely a 4-wheeler. Pretty crazy...
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June 19, 2008 10:05 a.m. Jay_W HalfDork
Gollygee. How come when I look at that pic of the Atom on slicks I get all twitchy and drooly!?
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June 19, 2008 10:11 a.m. Cotton New Reader
Anyone seen the Cam Am Spyder? Pretty cool and is around 15k. I still prefer a bike, but for someone looking for a cart like vehicle this is pretty cool. http://spyder.brp.com/
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June 19, 2008 10:42 a.m. GameboyRMH Dork
Wow, the Atom looks a million times better with the wings! It just went from "It's for driving, not looking at" to "ZOMGHAWT!"
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June 19, 2008 10:45 p.m. ww Dork
Gearheadotaku wrote: Some sort of street legal kart could be the answer to cheap on gas communiting for those of us who don't have the talent to ride a motorcycle. Something bigger than a shifter kart, smaller than a golf cart. Seat 2 people and cruise at 60mph. Not the best answer for a long ride on the freeway, but keep up with faster in town traffic. Toss on a helmet and it couldn't be worse than a motorcycle from a safety standpoint right?
Lotus 7 replica? Stalker Supercharged V6!
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June 20, 2008 9:00 a.m. MadScientistMatt HalfDork
Probably a sand rail type kit car, or even one built at home from a pile of tubing - there's a lot of them out there that don't use VW engines. They're not all that hard to make street legal in Georgia as a homemade dune buggy.
