ariel (automobile)

The Ariel was an English automobile manufactured in Birmingham from 1900 to 1915, and again from 1922 to 1925. The company began by building motor tricycles and quadricycles, but a 10hp twin-cylinder car was being produced by 1902. In 1903, a 16hp four-cylinder was introduced; it was the company's first. These vehicles had a leather cone clutch that was entirely separate from the flywheel. A six-cylinder model, built on a seemingly inadequate tubular chassis, entered production early in 1904. An entirely new range was announced at the end of 1905; called the "Aero-Simplex", these cars were Mercedes-inspired fours of 15hp and 25/30hp and a six of 35/40hp. In 1907-08 the company began production of the monstrous 50/60hp six, which offered 159 liters for a chassis price of 950. In 1907 Ariel sold its Bournbrook, Birmingham factory to British Lorraine-Dietrich, and thereafter assembled its cars at the Coventry Ordinance Works. Production of a 13 liter light car was quashed by the outbreak of World War I. After 1918 the company tried one last, abortive attempt to cash in on the small car market; the Ariel Nine featured a flat-twin air-cooled engine, and was built by A. Harper Sons and Bean.

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