Ariel Ltd. is a sports car manufacturer based in Crewkerne, Somerset. It is one of the smallest car manufacturers in the UK, employing only 7 people.

The company was founded in 1991 as Solocrest Limited, but changed its name to Ariel Ltd in 2001. as a result of the purchase of the rights to this name in 1999 from the former famous British car and motorcycle manufacturer.

The name Ariel is of great importance in the history of British motoring. It has its origins in Hebrew, and translates as "Lion-headed God", but it was believed that the British founders came up with the name, inspired by Shakespeare's play "The Tempest", where it was the name of the spirit of the air.

The company achieved its first achievement in 1870 and called it Ariel Ordinary. It was a bicycle that had two gears, 48-inch front wheels, and a patented lightweight all-steel frame. After this, in the early 1900s, Ariel, one of the first British automobile firms, introduced two typical roadsters to the public. The first was a 1,100 kg two-seater called the Ariel Grand Prix Racer, which was powered by 2,325 cc. 4-cylinder engine. The second was called the Hillclimber, which was a four-seater classic roadster with an aluminum body and a single-cylinder 3000 cc engine, the power of which was 60 hp.

Immediately after this, Ariel abandoned its automobile development plans and moved into the motorcycle field. Throughout the first half of the 20th century, Ariel established itself among British motorcycle manufacturers. Among several successful motorcycle models of this brand we remember: Model E Super Sports, Red Hunter, Square 4 and Arrow.

Coming back to today's Ariel Ltd., the company made a name for itself in 2000 when it introduced the world's first exoskeleton car called the Atom. The car had visible frame work based on a cylindrical chassis and a Rover K-series engine. Since it had no body or roof, the car was very light (about 1000 kg) and had rapid acceleration.

The Ariel Atom 2 was an improved version of the first Atom, but featured a 2.0-liter Honda VTEC engine and a Honda 6-speed manual transmission. The success of the Ariel Atom took off after the Atom 2 took part in the popular British car show Top Gear.

Ariel Atom 2 has received praise for its amazing acceleration, handcrafted quality, and responsive and predictable controls. The Atom earned a world record for achieving the fastest acceleration time from zero to 100 mph and back.