The futuristic Atom is one of the
most significant cars in the history of Aston Martin, yet it is rarely seen in
public.
It’s an Aston Martin. Streamlined bodywork
aside, it doesn't scream 'sports car', and its stocky appearance doesn't
exactly set the pulse racing. It's almost like a creature from
outer space. You tend to tiptoe around the car cautiously lest you're caught in
a tractor beam and transported to a distant, alien planet.
There is a strangely triangular theme to
it, too. That starts with the grille and bonnet, of course, but looks at it
long enough and you'll see more and more triangular shapes; sometimes they are
even subliminal. There is not a single right angle in the design.
My initial impressions were shared by the
general-public when the car was unveiled in 1939, shortly before the outbreak
of World War Two. Few cars as overtly modernist as this had ever been seen
before, and as for the name... Five years later, the world would be all too
familiar with the atom, but in the late 1930s nuclear physics was very much the
preserve of an intellectual elite.
You
tend to tiptoe around the car cautiously lest you're caught in a tractor beam
and transported to a distant, alien planet.
Gordon Sutherland, at that time boss of
Aston Martin, belonged to that elite. He understood social change, and
philosophized about the future of the car market. People would start making
longer journeys, he was sure. The rapid development of air and rail travel was
certain to continue, with services such as the Orient Express and Le Train Bleu
giving a hint of what was to come.
So Sutherland planned to bring to market a
comfortable saloon with a sporty character, in line with Aston Martin's philosophy.
It needed a streamlined shape, similar to the more innovative Bugattis and
Bentleys of the time, and in 1939 he began work on his prototype, which he
named after something incredibly small, incredibly fast and incredibly
powerful.
Small is the operative word. You may not
notice straight away, but the rear doors are almost ridiculously diminutive.
They make climbing into or out of the back seats something of an adventure. One
theory is that Sutherland wanted to drive the car at Le Mans, where the regulations
insisted upon four doors; another is that the reason was a shortage of
materials. A third is that Sutherland simply constructed the car around his own
proportions.
Small
is the operative word. You may not notice straight away, but the rear doors are
almost ridiculously diminutive.
The Aston boss watched his development team
closely, constantly peering over the shoulder of chief designer Claude Hill.
The concept owed much to the cars of continental Europe: Sutherland admired
European technology. He had personally owned 90 cars, many of them European,
and was determined to combine their best features in his prototype. The body is
aluminum over a tubular steel frame, and originally housed a front-mounted
1950cc four-cylinder single overhead-camshaft engine with two Zenith
carburetors. Power is transmitted to the rear wheels via a four-speed Cotal
electromagnetic semi-automatic gearbox and Salisbury hypoid bevel back axle;
the independent front suspension is to Sutherland's own patented design.
The interior speaks of Sutherland's
fascination with aircraft, sporting aero plane- type hammock seats - during the
early stages of development it was fitted with speed sensors borrowed from a
plane. Sutherland had followed the first tests of the delta wing in Germany in
the early 1930s, hence perhaps his fascination with triangular design themes;
the hood ornament, which doubles as the bonnet release, was specially designed
for the Atom in the shape of a delta wing. Side-on, it's the Aston Martin logo
cut in half.
The
Aston boss watched his development team closely, constantly peering over the
shoulder of chief designer Claude Hill.
Sutherland did not wrap his creation in
cotton wool. Even though it was a one-off - later to be labeled one of the
first fully functional concept cars - it was still an experimental car, and
clocked up around 150,000km during and immediately after the war. In 1941 it
was entered into the Chessington Rally, a race organized by a few wealthy
businessmen to keep morale high at a time when racing was not exactly top
priority. Petrol was rationed but the ultra-modern Atom represented the promise
of better times.
Although the war kept him from taking the
Atom to production, Sutherland confidently presented his car to the automotive
press, and it was well-received. In 1941 The Autocar wrote: 'The saloon body
breaks with British car convention as universally understood in 1939... see it
as the comfortable, convenient sports-type car of the future.' Motor Sport, in
1942, said: 'On the road this is a machine which convinces you it is all the
way a winner.' The same year, Laurence Pomeroy of The Motor claimed boldly: 'In
this car, we can see the new order of motoring before our eyes.'
It is said that those who suffer with back
problems are miraculously cured after a long journey in the bucket seats of the
Atom, and as I am no stranger to lower back pain, I climb into the driver's
seat with a mixture of curiosity and skepticism. The seat is not too hard, and
fairly supportive. We can thank the aircraft inspiration for that.
Although the war kept him from taking the
Atom to production, Sutherland confidently presented his car to the automotive
press, and it was well-received.
The engine emits a growl at odds with the
car's appearance, but it sounds promising. There's a large lever protruding
from the floor, used to select forward or reverse, while switching between
gears is accomplished with a smaller stick on the adjustable steering column.
First is right and fourth is left, but the Cotal semi-automatic transmission
doesn't take much getting used to, and saves you the trouble of
double-declutching. The gearbox was really too heavy for the four-cylinder
engine, but hey... it was an experimental car.
