It was Saturday, a beautiful summer day, and I was looking at the shiny beauties at the Ferdinand Porsche Festival in Liberec. The parking lot was full of beautiful Porsches, the representation of models and shapes was varied and the camera did not stop. Suddenly a piece, seemingly similar to a Porsche 356 roadster , emerged from the line and my vision sharpened. If someone asked me for my opinion on building a modern modified version of the Porsche 356 roadster, I would never give permission for it, because such a project rarely turns out well. But this one really worked. Just look, perhaps only an ardent gardener who loves his plants above all else would be left cold by such beautiful curves. I was not lazy and started talking to the owners so that I could tell you more about this piece.
You are looking at the first effort of the ATOM car Engineering workshop, serving as a realistic idea of what can be achieved if you only follow your idea of the ideal roadster. Why the Porsche 356 ? According to the owners, it is an unsurpassably beautiful car and they wanted to have an original weekend toy purely for the joy of it, which would catch the eye at first glance. So why did they decide to give others the opportunity to have a similar car? Given that we know where we live, no one will be surprised by the problem of legalization (technical license, attestation, etc.) of the entire project, for this reason they have arranged a permit for small-scale production .
From the very first words in the introduction to the prospectus, it is clear that it is completely handmade , everything is original and custom-made. The shape of the body developed for a long time only in the heads of the owners, in a 3D program, until it finally reached its final form in the body shop. If we wanted to define this direction, we can talk about American hot rod in European style . Now we get to the benefits of a custom hand-built car. This is mainly about the body material used, specifically for this piece it is laminate, but there is also aluminum or carbon fiber on offer. It's the same with the choice of painting, where you have over 30,000 variants available, including special glossy, matte and pearlescent colors that change their shade depending on the angle of view or temperature.
The second specialty is the engine, again this is not a transplant from another car, but an original creation made according to the company's requirements. The basic concept consists of an air-cooled turbocharged four-cylinder boxer type with direct injection. The power of this engine was 80 hp, but the power scale of the aggregates offered ranges from 60 to 500 hp . A four-speed manual transmission takes care of the transmission of power to the wheels. It is the same with the chassis, where its optimal stiffness and height are adjusted. The maximum speed ranges from 140 km/h to 250 km/h , while the upper limit is only theoretical, the current model does not have enough power. We can estimate the weight from approx. 600 kg . The final tuning of driving characteristics and the engine takes place on a closed circuit , and in the final the car goes to the dynamometer, where load tests are also carried out.
The processing, design and materials used in the interior are clearly visible in the photos, and this is where the future owner can really go wild. A funny detail is the support of the luggage compartment with a golf club . You can choose the shape of the seats, pedals, steering wheel, the materials used (suede, leather, aluminum, wood, etc.), the layout of the dashboard, and it is also entirely up to you how you manage the space behind the seats. Instead of a back bench, you can have a storage space or perhaps a proper audio system .
The time to put together such a piece takes about six months to one year , depending on the level of difficulty, and the price of this model is estimated at CZK 1,300,000 , but it is already a slightly more luxurious design with many details. The price may seem high to you, but for your money you get a hand-made car made exactly to measure, which ensures the originality of each piece, so we can talk about money well spent , as the price will hardly fall, on the contrary. ATOM car Engineering didn't just create a beautiful speedster, but showed us that achieving your dream is real even in today's time full of regulations and paperwork, and also gave many more people the opportunity to have a toy built for the sheer joy and pleasure of every kilometer driven with the wind in hair and the reflection of the sun on the hood.
