New to the Forum

[1965Cobra427]

Good things come to those who wait... OK, I am expecting something very good! Last fall my wife and I decided to travel the Pacific Coast Highway from Canada to  Mexico as our 2-week vacation. A couple of weeks before we left, my brother in Ohio e-mailed me a link to the 5th Gear Airel Atom program. I logged onto the website and found it to be within an hour's drive of our travel plans. Re-plan...Leave the wife at the mall in Medford and visit Ashland. One hot lap on Dead Indian and I was hooked! I ordered my Atom on September 5, 2006 and it should be completed today! I spoke with Craig yesterday and it's just about ready to go.

This car should go very well with my current project car, a 2,200 lb Cobra replica with a 550 HP S/C 4.6 Mustang Cobra engine. Here is a link to the build site. (Sorry, it's a bit out of date, I'll try to update it soon). http://cobra4me.com/phpBB/viewforum.php ... 8e60937545

[Jamin]

I can't believe your introductory post fell under the radar!  Welcome to the forums, and congrats on the car!  Whereabouts are you located?

[1965Cobra427]

Thanks for the welcome! I live in the northwest corner of Arkansas, adjacent to Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri. My car was completed in Asland on May 31 and is awaiting pickup by enclosed carrier now. I hope to have it here and begin the registration process in early July.

I worked through all of the current Arkansas laws on vehicle regstration requirements and the Atom seems to comply with all of them execpt possibly a windshield wiper.

27-37-303. Windshield wipers required.
(a)  The windshield on every motor vehicle shall be equipped with a device for cleaning rain, snow, or other moisture from the windshield.
    (b)  This device shall be so constructed as to be controlled or operated by the driver of the vehicle.

Since the Atom doesn't really have a windshield per se, we might have a small loophole. My car has the twin bubble windscreen option, so they might consider that a windshield even though it's not in the driver's line of sight.

I found a little comfort in this section:

27-37-704. Inspection for compliance.
No motor vehicle, nor the operator of such vehicle, nor the passengers of such vehicle shall be stopped, inspected, or detained solely to determine compliance with this subchapter. 

I have some contacts with the Motor Vehicle Department through my business (software for state/county government) and have already spoken with the head of the DMV registration division. He was unsure about the wiper issue, but said [paraphrased] "we'll register it ... you might have a problem with the highway patrol when they inspect it, but you won't have any problem getting it registered."

If I can reach the bubble from the driver's seat, I might just carry a cloth to clear any "rain, snow or other moisture..." I already have a few contingency plans for a makeshift wiper if it looks like I'll need one...