Michael Cornette, a 35-year-old Belgian automotive journalist, was killed after the Ariel Atom 3 he was riding in crashed into a silo outside of Kortijk, Belgium, around 3:30 p.m. yesterday. Cornette was a passenger in the open-top, track-ready, yet street-legal cart when driver and owner Matthieu Desmet lost control on a long straight road. Desmet is in critical condition and under a medically induced coma. Cornette died at the scene.

Cornette was a journalist at a West Flanders newspaper and worked on an annual car guide in response to the local Brussels Motor Show. Cornette was on the test drive in the Ariel as part of his research. He left behind a wife and a two-year-old daughter.

[via Knack.be]

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Ariel has added a new base model to its Atom 3 lineup, reducing the car’s starting price by $15,000 to $49,980 instead of the previous $65,000. The new car will also show up with a bit less horsepower—219 in place of the outgoing car’s 245—although Ariel’s estimated performance numbers of zero-to-60 mph in less than three seconds and a zero-100-zero time of less than 11 seconds have not change.  The 245-hp and supercharged 300-hp versions are still available as options.

[via Ariel Atom]

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AutoCar is  reporting that the Ariel Atom V-8 will be sold for £120,000 when it goes on sale next year in the United Kingdom.  That’s approximately $200,000 at the current exchange rate and still a steal considering the car’s Veryon-like performance numbers, including a zero-to-60-mph time of 2.5 seconds. Power comes from a small 3.0-liter V-8 making 500 hp and weighed down by only 1,100 lbs. Only 25 V-8 Atoms will be built and word is 19 of them are already spoken for. The current Ariel Atom 3 sells within the United States for $65,000 and is powered by a 245-hp four-cylinder engine; a supercharged 300-hp option is available.

[via AutoCar.co.uk]

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