I'm an old new member

[Oldfart]

Hello everyone, I came in here to try to edumucate myself on the Atom. I'm having to get off of my bikes for medical reasons (brain tumor and removal) & I need to get something to entertain myself. I was just looking at an 07 at a dealer in PA. I was surprised I fit in it, I'm 6'3" with long legs. I actually fit in it pretty good, plenty of headroom too! I've seen some mentions of needed upgrades on the older Atoms, I'm still trying to figure that part out.

It looks like they hold their value well if you buy used. I have a very short list of possibilities, a used Atom, a nice used 7, or a used 996 Turbo. The one thing I really like about the Atom is the very light weight. I built a Bradley GT about 30 years ago & had a ton of fun with it handling wise, because it was so light.

Dumb question, is there any way you guys pack a bit of stuff if you have a passenger, other than 4 cans of beer in the front storage? Looking forward to learning about these cars.

[Oldfart]

I just saw one of your members posted about the car I looked at, it's the one on e-bay. I'm guessing that since it was a track experience car, it was flogged pretty hard. Now I know why the owner was evasive when I asked about previous owners. He said it came from a former manager in Virginia, I knew they ran these at VIR.

[MadMaxAtom]

TMI took very good care of their demo cars,and I would not have an issue buying one. The Atom can take track use very well,as it is not overly stressed like most porky cars. (anything over 2k. lbs is porky to me,and if it is over 3.5k lbs,it is a truck...

[Oldfart]

TMI took very good care of their demo cars,and I would not have an issue buying one. The Atom can take track use very well,as it is not overly stressed like most porky cars. (anything over 2k. lbs is porky to me,and if it is over 3.5k lbs,it is a truck...

There's a heck of a lot of trucks out there! I agree with you though, there's no substitute for lightness. I always loved Lotus's because of that, but I'm WAY too tall to drive one more than a few minutes. So you wouldn't worry about people with little to no skills beating up on the car? I was thinking more of knuckleheads beating on it through lack of skills, & or, common sense, as opposed to someone who is an owner & actually knows how to drive it on the track.

[MadMaxAtom]

TMI didn't just let people run amuck with their Atoms. They weren't "rentals", they were demo/school cars and watched carefully. Sure,accidents happen,but they do with privately owned cars as well.

[Oldfart]

TMI didn't just let people run amuck with their Atoms. They weren't "rentals", they were demo/school cars and watched carefully. Sure,accidents happen,but they do with privately owned cars as well.

Thanks for that, I was picturing the running amuck types. Kind of like myself when a few of us rented a Mustang GT in Florida for a day while there on a business trip. Much fun was had.

[Lane]

Dumb question, is there any way you guys pack a bit of stuff if you have a passenger, other than 4 cans of beer in the front storage? Looking forward to learning about these cars.

I've done 5 trips across the U.S. in mine, 19,000 miles on the car so far and counting. I've done the Hot Rod Power Tour event a few times, and for that, I'm in the car with a passenger for between 8 and 10 days each time with everything we need for hotel stays for the duration. Here's what I've found works best.

Two medium duffel bags fit width-wise on the passenger floor. Since getting into the car involves standing on the seat anyway, it's not too much extra effort for the passenger to get in and put their legs on top of those bags. Because there's no conventional "dash", there is a ton of vertical legroom in these cars. It's beneficial if these bags are waterproof. Kayak dry bags work well, not just because they're waterproof, but also because you can sit on them to squeeze all the air out and compress the contents before fitting them into the car. One drawback of putting items on the floor in that position is that they will block the floor's forward drain holes. If it rains hard at that point, you're going to get some slosh in the tub. But let me tell you - I can't remember ever laughing harder during a drive than when I'm taking a corner in the pouring rain with the floor drain holes plugged with gravel, and there's more than an inch of water sloshing and splashing on the floor.



See, still lots of room. In fact, it's like sitting with your legs up in a recliner! The blue bags on top of the passenger's legs in this photo were folding chairs, but that idea was nixed quickly as a passenger couldn't get in and out very easily having to deal with those every time.

With the one-piece fiberglass seat, there's room under the front half of the seat (below the thigh area) for a medium-sized backpack that can be tucked 3/4 of the way under. And for those that are medium to short stature, move the pedal box all the way toward the front end of the car to the position closest to the front bulkhead and move the seat forward to the approximate mid-point in its travel, and you've made 6 to 8 inches of space between the seat back and rear firewall. I can fit a lot of stuff in that space, in several backpacks that are about half-full and squishable to fit past the lip on the top edge of the seat.

During the Power Tour, I often empty the car when at a venue (as well as emptying it every night at the hotel). A lot of people look at what's been unloaded from the car and say flat out that "there is no way all that fits in that car". It is impressive how much you can fit if you put some thought into it, pack only what you need (ahem, ladies), stay at hotels with laundry facilities to allow you to pack even less, and creatively arrange everything in the car.

All-in-all, this is what I've been able to fit in the car in this way easily:
* Two passengers, mid-height and having a reasonable width as well.
* About 1/2 a cubic foot of tools in ziploc bags in the cubby under the bonnet. Surprisingly, it's a fair amount of tools if you pack them in there well.
* Two mid-size duffel bags (passenger floor)
* Two 3/4-full mid-size backpacks (under the front half of each seat position)
* GPS in a RAM-mount connected to center frame tube just in front of seat
* 18" x 24" road sign (under seat, fit just beautifully) - was presented as a "long-hauler" award after the Power Tour



and the following between the seats and rear firewall

* Three 1/2-full mid-size backpacks
* Factory outdoor car cover
* Three-foot-long poster tube
* Two umbrellas
* Emergency supply of towels, rain gear (when not worn), and misc.

If anyone would like to see tons of photos from my cross-country trips, take a look in my website's gallery.

[Oldfart]

Nice!