V8

[AlanP]

Does anybody on this forum own a V8?

I'd like to know what it's like to live with, it's the only thing I might change mine for and I keep toying with the idea.

A

[John Scherrer]

Monza had the 2nd one in France but has since sold.
As far as I recall, Jean-Pascal (Monza) was the only owner active on this forum.

There was another one in France delivered ahead of Monza's and a gunmetal chassis one in Jersey (No 2 of 25)

Here's the "Atom 500 Thread" :-
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=11360

[AlanP]

Thanks John. Hen's teeth I guess, was it 25 they made?

Anyone driven one?

A

[John Scherrer]

Yes 25 here and another 25 in the US I think ..

[markwetherall]

Think you will find there is only one V8 left which was the one from France. The jersey one no longer exists I believe. You have no chance of ever getting one and to be honest why would you. Wait for the 4r to come out with sequential, it will be way faster than the V8. The V8 was never great at handling especially as things have moved on so far since that car came out. The V8 did sound incredible mind. I knew the Jersey car very well.

Never seen one for sale apart from the French car, and never heard about another, which is why I think there were only ever 2 cars built for customers

[John Scherrer]

Presumably at least 3 cars for customers ..

1) Monza's Customer
2) Monza's own car (now sold)
3) The Jersey Car

[markwetherall]

Didn't think Monza had sold any, just had his own one. Good if he did as they would mean there are 2 out there at the very least

[John Scherrer]

Monza’s photo of the car delivered to his customer ..

[markwetherall]

That's hopeful that there might be a couple left then. Didn't know about 2 in France. Interesting as you couldn't get them registered over there at that time if memory serves me right which is why Monza never registered his one and was used on trade plates.

[Monza]

I read a lot of wrong things here which is not common on this forum ...
There was 2 in France, one for me (that i sold in France 2 years ago) and one for a french customer.
Other were sold in Belgium, UK , other foreign countries etc ...
From my source a total of 17 were built for the world.

As it was impossible to register it here, i drive it on roads with my garage number plate.
There is absolutely no way to compare it to a (real) 3.5R or a turbo Atom 4 350 or a future R. I drove my v8 thousands km on roads and track.
On roads, with Ohlins as on mine, it's the most fabulous car i have driven , by far. The feelings with the v8 and sadev are just fantastic, cool fast driving in 6 gear with very smooth engine even at very low rpm or incredible double downshift to overtake some cars or trucks with a fabulous accélération and engine noise ... a big smile on your face !
On track : it's a real fast Atom but not for every one because ... it's fast !
The bad :
the owner has to be a little bit mechanic sensible, if not , he'll potentialy go into troubles with the engine, not on roads where the engine is fine, but in intensive use on tracks. An engine rebuilt is very high cost but it can increase the reliability with upgrades. The sadev (and its clutch) is a rock.
If i was living in UK so with a registered V8, i would still owned one for fun road use and keep it as a collector (because it'll become a collector).

[AlanP]

Thanks for that Monza. I love the idea of it for the power, the screaming revs and the Sadev as well of course. The factory had one for sale a year or so ago, I should've considered it.
Monza, have you driven a 3.5R/Sadev? It's that comparison I would like, but you've certainly said all the right things.
A

[Monza]

The one that was for sale at the factory is owned by my french customer. Now it's in France.
I have driven on road and tracks several Atom 3.5 350 hp with Ohlins, Alcon, dymags , with or without aerofoils, but not with the sadev. What do you want to compare between these and V8 ? perhaps i can help.
As it's difficult for my customer to use it on roads he is open to sell it but because of Brexit you'll have 20% VAT to pay if it goes back to UK ...

[AlanP]

Monza,

Thanks for all the info, I thought my s/c 3 was brilliant, I suppose if it drove like that but with 475hp and Sadev that wouldn't be a bad thing.

Regards sourcing a car, it's just a niggling fancy at the moment, but if I did I think I'd want to buy from the factory.

On another note going over the old V8 thread reminds me of how many God awful, stroppy, opinionated f'ers there were on the forum back then!

It seems a nicer place now.

A

[Hedge]

But boring, hey, Al

Cheers,
Hedge

[Monza]

"It seems a nicer place now"

Are sure ? Hedge still here ...