Deal of a lifetime
04-18-2013, 04:32 PM
#1
Registered User
Thread Starter
Deal of a lifetime
Here is an interesting deal.
http://altraimports.com/
Here is an interesting tread on another forum about the cars:
http://www.atomclub.com/forum/index....c,14265.0.html
And the threat from TMI about no factory support is not all that hard to live with. Dennis Palatov backing the support for the cars. And if you haven't seen his work here is a few examples.
Yes he put a V8 in an atom before Ariel did. And also makes quite a few upgrades for where the factory is less than optimal.
http://www.dpcars.net/atom/
And he built a car that did quite well at Pikes peak unlimited division.
http://www.topspeed.com/cars/car-new...-ar133666.html
http://altraimports.com/
Here is an interesting tread on another forum about the cars:
http://www.atomclub.com/forum/index....c,14265.0.html
And the threat from TMI about no factory support is not all that hard to live with. Dennis Palatov backing the support for the cars. And if you haven't seen his work here is a few examples.
Yes he put a V8 in an atom before Ariel did. And also makes quite a few upgrades for where the factory is less than optimal.
http://www.dpcars.net/atom/
And he built a car that did quite well at Pikes peak unlimited division.
http://www.topspeed.com/cars/car-new...-ar133666.html
04-21-2013, 07:05 PM
#2
Ohhhhhh man. As much as I hate to support a copy cat, a pseudo-atom for that price would be hard to pass up.
04-21-2013, 07:23 PM
#3
Registered User
Thread Starter
Its sold as a copy. Ariel China sold 2 cars in 4 years. And because TMI had exclusive rights in North America to market and sell the Ariel Atom. these cars cannot be sold as such.
04-21-2013, 07:45 PM
#4
They (legitimate Atom distributor) are claiming that they're sub-par for quality and that they shouldn't be sold to the public. Not sure how true it is. I have a hard time believing they built so many bad parts but again, who knows?
Regardless, they won't support any buyers or sell them parts.
Regardless, they won't support any buyers or sell them parts.
TMI AutoTech, Inc. - Statement to the Legitimate North American Ariel Atom Owner/Buyer Community:
The specific subject ‘vehicles’ currently being offered on eBay clearly represent non-conforming, untested, potentially unsafe & otherwise partially manufactured ‘Chinese Atoms’. There are numerous valid reasons that 'Ariel China' is no longer authorized to manufacture Atoms for sale within China. The company was never authorized to export and/or sell any such partial or complete ‘vehicles’ to any other market. Regardless of any other legal remedies available to TMI in this matter, any US importation, representation, sale or purchase of these particular ‘vehicles’, regardless of how described or characterized, is considered by TMI AutoTech, Inc. to be unauthorized and infringing upon TMI’s legitimately licensed & authorized rights as exclusive North American manufacturer, distributor & seller of Ariel Atoms.
Accordingly, buyers beware: No North American parts, service or tech. support whatsoever would be provided by TMI, or Ariel Motor, to any buyer/owner of these unauthorized ‘vehicles’.
The existence of this flagrant deception by the named US importer/seller could potentially serve to diminish the image, prestige, exclusivity & potential value of your vehicles. In that regard, we would strongly urge all existing Ariel Atom owners to express their individual and/or collective displeasure in this matter directly to the named importer/seller and/or the involved principals.
The specific subject ‘vehicles’ currently being offered on eBay clearly represent non-conforming, untested, potentially unsafe & otherwise partially manufactured ‘Chinese Atoms’. There are numerous valid reasons that 'Ariel China' is no longer authorized to manufacture Atoms for sale within China. The company was never authorized to export and/or sell any such partial or complete ‘vehicles’ to any other market. Regardless of any other legal remedies available to TMI in this matter, any US importation, representation, sale or purchase of these particular ‘vehicles’, regardless of how described or characterized, is considered by TMI AutoTech, Inc. to be unauthorized and infringing upon TMI’s legitimately licensed & authorized rights as exclusive North American manufacturer, distributor & seller of Ariel Atoms.
Accordingly, buyers beware: No North American parts, service or tech. support whatsoever would be provided by TMI, or Ariel Motor, to any buyer/owner of these unauthorized ‘vehicles’.
The existence of this flagrant deception by the named US importer/seller could potentially serve to diminish the image, prestige, exclusivity & potential value of your vehicles. In that regard, we would strongly urge all existing Ariel Atom owners to express their individual and/or collective displeasure in this matter directly to the named importer/seller and/or the involved principals.
04-22-2013, 05:09 AM
#5
That's pretty crazy. But then again, it really shows you what the mark up is on these. Not saying that part of the markup isn't needed for legal fees and such for having it "street legal".
04-22-2013, 07:10 AM
#6
Funny thing is, they don't guarantee that it'll be able to be registered. Buyers of the "real" Atoms still have to get them registered in their state and some have had quite some difficulty.
04-22-2013, 07:14 AM
#7
Registered User
When a 3rd party company copies the design they basically incur the cost of materials and maybe 5% of the R&D time of the original design so they can get away with selling the knock-off at 1/5th the price.
I'd be willing to bet that one of these copy cars is just as safe and would perform just as good as the real deal. I'd still want to get it thoroughly inspected and tested for things like torsional strength and rigidity before I put myself in the seat, though.
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04-22-2013, 07:49 AM
#8
These are not knock-offs. They're actual licensed Atom chassis' from China that aren't supposed to be made available anywhere else. They only sold 2 and so they have a bunch of stock left. They're not knock-offs, even though they're selling them as replicas. 
Otherwise, your points are all 100% correct. It's EASY to replicate something like this. I have a $100K portable laser scanner for my group that could copy this thing in less than 8 hours (within 0.003"), port directly into our CAD system and have a working 3D model with less than 16 hours of work...
Otherwise, your points are all 100% correct. It's EASY to replicate something like this. I have a $100K portable laser scanner for my group that could copy this thing in less than 8 hours (within 0.003"), port directly into our CAD system and have a working 3D model with less than 16 hours of work...
04-22-2013, 08:16 AM
#9
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Well then, are you free this weekend? I'll bring the beers.
04-22-2013, 08:27 AM
#10
We actually did a Ducati motorcycle tank for a customer of ours that he wanted to have built (and modified) to go a custom bike (did it as an unpaid favor). Easy stuff!
My dad was asking me to scan wing uprights for his racecar but those are easy enough by hand/basic measurements, given they're essentially just 2D pieces that are extruded along a single axis.
My dad was asking me to scan wing uprights for his racecar but those are easy enough by hand/basic measurements, given they're essentially just 2D pieces that are extruded along a single axis.