NOMAD'S LAND

Ariel's off-road sports car has been reborn. We're first to drive the Nomad 2, on some of the UK's best B-roads

-  JAMES TAYLORc

IF SOMEONE DESCRIBES A CAR AS A 'TOY', IT CAN BE taken two ways. It can sound a bit pejorative, implying a frippery, an unnecessary indulgence, an ego-driven purchase, perhaps. Or it can be a compliment, recognising a pure-in purpose recreational vehicle, one that's unashamedly about having fun for fun's sake.

The Ariel Nomad is a toy in the most emphatically positive sense of the word: an open-air two-seater capable of extreme off-road use, yet also uniquely brilliant fun on the road.

The original launched in 2015 and captured customers' imaginations in a way that took even Ariel itself by surprise.

Nomad owners did all sorts with their cars extreme offroading, simple Sunday-drive-to-the-pub motoring, round-the-world expeditions, track days, and all points in between.

It was the sports car the world never knew it needed.

Now it's time for the follow-up: the ground-up-redesigned Ariel Nomad 2. We meet it in north Wales and set about a pre-flight check to see what's new, which is everything bar the steering wheel, pedal box and fuel filler cap.

The evolution from Nomad 1 to Nomad 2 is similar to the step from Atom 3 to Atom 4, explains Ariel MD Henry Siebert-Saunders, which is to say that while it may look very much the same, and is intended to have the same ethos and feel as its predecessor, it is effectively an all-new car. 'It was the same scenario: what do we want to change? Nothing.

What do we need to change? Everything.' So Nomad 2 is easier to get into, faster and easier to manufacture and service, more reliable, able to carry more things more easily, even more capable off-road, and much faster on-road (and off it) than before. 'But we've tried not to lose the Ariel-ness - the simplicity, the fun, the tactility,' Siebert-Saunders emphasises.