I was idly perusing the Ariel website and one of their options is the “Ambidextrous Chassis; Steering and pedal mounts for both left and right hand drive on your Atom chassis enabling you to switch if you spend longer periods of time on the continent. Takes around 8 hours to change from one hand to the other.”
I can’t think of any other cars that do this, but what a wonderfully left-field option. Also, 0-62 in 2.8secs for £45k isn’t too shabby. Anyone driven one (other than HenryC recently)?
Re: Ambidextrous car
Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2018 6:10 pm
by nuttinnew
Re: Ambidextrous car
Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2018 6:11 pm
by mik
Never drove it - but spent some time on road with one. Very rapid overtaking pace - heavily blunted at speed though. On the 2nd/3rd gear twisties I never spent very much time with it at all..... need to ask Mudge for his thoughts.
Not much lock available so they don’t encourage you to venture too far into oversteer. Extremely wooden brake pedal too apparently.
Get ridiculous levels of attention though. (My favourite being a Jap tourist who asked if it also went on the water.... which I thought was utterly hilarious. The owner less so ).
Re: Ambidextrous car
Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2018 6:47 pm
by Mito Man
I read this as amphibious car.
But the market for people who can be bothered with spending 8 hours to convert the car can’t be great can it? You won’t bother for your usual European road trip.
Re: Ambidextrous car
Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2018 6:52 pm
by integrale_evo
A task made massively easier by barely having any interior or electrics ( as most normal cars will pack a fuse box and various modules in the passenger side of the dash )
Most normal cars will have the brackets already on the body. Quite like looking at opposite hand drive versions of my own cars to work out where the things go.
The metro is particularly simple, there's a big square hole on each side of the bulkhead, brake servo covers the one on the drivers side, heater box the passenger side. They're just swapped straight over for the opposite side drive car, and the non functional bonnet intake for the heater is blanked off.
Wasn't it the rover sd1 which had a single main dash panel, the hole for the steering column on the other side drive version was just filled with an air vent?
Re: Ambidextrous car
Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2018 7:12 pm
by duncs500
I had a p-ride in Scott's one, main memories were that the acceleration was mental and the superchrger whine piercing.
I loved it, but it was fucking fierce.
Re: Ambidextrous car
Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2018 7:43 pm
by JonMad
I was fortunate to get a p-ride in one at a VMax day. It was fecking mental. With a helmet on my head hurt from the wind, g forces and supercharger whine.
Re: Ambidextrous car
Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2018 7:45 pm
by Rich B
I’ve driven a few laps on track in one. Bonkers. Made everything else on track, including an LP640, into mobile chicanes.
Driving one on the road must be terrifying! (I’d still like to give it a go though)
Re: Ambidextrous car
Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2018 8:18 pm
by Orange Cola
A Unimog can have the LHD/RHD option ticked. It takes about 10 seconds to swap from one side to the other.
Re: Ambidextrous car
Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2018 8:24 pm
by Shlergen
Track day experience. Direct steer, no roll and rapid as. Wouldn't want to be in a crash in one.
Re: Ambidextrous car
Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2018 4:52 pm
by Orange Cola
Shlergen wrote: Fri Jun 08, 2018 8:24 pm
Track day experience. Direct steer, no roll and rapid as. Wouldn't want to be in a crash in one.
I've heard there's issues with the Chassis cracking over time on them. I wouldn't want to be in a crash in one that's not been re-welded.
Re: Ambidextrous car
Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2018 11:25 am
by JonathanE
I thought this was going to be along the lines of the 1986 BMW April Fool advert:
Reality is now as strange as fiction!
Jonathan
Re: Ambidextrous car
Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2018 11:51 am
by Jimmy Choo
I thought this was going to be the old Norwich Union advert for a (imaginary) Russian supercar with all sorts of high tech equipment like fingerprint ignition and a steering wheel that would flip from one side of the car to the other.
Re: Ambidextrous car
Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2018 12:27 pm
by Beany
Jimmy Choo wrote: Mon Jun 11, 2018 11:51 am
I thought this was going to be the old Norwich Union advert for a (imaginary) Russian supercar with all sorts of high tech equipment like fingerprint ignition and a steering wheel that would flip from one side of the car to the other.
That rings a bell. Link me up Choo.
Re: Ambidextrous car
Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2018 5:20 pm
by Richard
Jimmy Choo wrote: Mon Jun 11, 2018 11:51 am
I thought this was going to be the old Norwich Union advert for a (imaginary) Russian supercar with all sorts of high tech equipment like fingerprint ignition and a steering wheel that would flip from one side of the car to the other.
I swear I remember there being a car that could do this, and seeing adverts of it. It’s in my very, very distant memory - maybe I’m remembering this advert? Early-mid 90s?
Re: Ambidextrous car
Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2018 5:24 pm
by integrale_evo
Mirov
They had one on display in a shop front in Norwich for a while after the ads had been on telly
Many years later I studied Ferrari as part of my art a-level and met a bloke near by who had a very nice early 308gtb. In his garage he had one of the old NU Mirovs. I think they had a couple made for promotional duties. It was only a body and rolling chassis which he hoped to one day turn into a proper car.
Re: Ambidextrous car
Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2018 5:25 pm
by integrale_evo
Re: Ambidextrous car
Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2018 5:41 pm
by GG.
Lolz. That looks to be as credible a supercar as Putin is a democrat.
Jimmy Choo wrote: Mon Jun 11, 2018 11:51 am
I thought this was going to be the old Norwich Union advert for a (imaginary) Russian supercar with all sorts of high tech equipment like fingerprint ignition and a steering wheel that would flip from one side of the car to the other.
Jimmy Choo wrote: Mon Jun 11, 2018 11:51 am
I thought this was going to be the old Norwich Union advert for a (imaginary) Russian supercar with all sorts of high tech equipment like fingerprint ignition and a steering wheel that would flip from one side of the car to the other.
).
