Aston Martin Atom
Car of the Day #185: 1940 Aston Martin Atom – Origin story
If there's one car brand that does absolutely nothing for me, it’s Aston Martin.
I will research dozens of obscure, cottage-built superminis from other continents before casting my gaze toward Aston’s back catalogue of brutish British sports cars.
The Aston Martin Atom, however, is another animal entirely.
Aston Martin exists because of the Atom: in 1940, David Brown was so taken by its abilities (and the engineering talent behind it) that he bought Aston Martin. You know how the company uses "DB" in most model names? That's for David Brown, who started the naming scheme after he'd bought the company during the Second World War.
The Atom was simple, out of necessity, and built to Aston Martin boss Gordon Sutherland's instructions: make the smallest, lightweight, enclosed saloon possible.
If Citroën had designed the 2CV as a more substantial car in anticipation of a growing middle class, I suspect it may have come up with an Atom-like design.
Aston Martin Atom • Aston Martin
To start, the Atom used a French Cotal semi-automatic gearbox, complete with electromagnetic clutches. It had a two-litre 4-cylinder engine, lightweight rectangular tube space frame chassis, the company's first independent suspension design, and wind-cheating aluminum bodywork.
