Customer Question: "I've Got an Ariel Atom. What Bucket Seat Choices Do I Have?"
Customer question: Ariel Atom
We are asked about seats for almost every performance car, and the Ariel Atom comes up now and then. It is a car built around its exposed tubular chassis, with a tiny cockpit and nothing that is not needed, and owners understandably want to know whether a different bucket seat will go in.
The honest answer is that we cannot help with seats for the Atom. None of the bucket seats we supply will fit, and the Corbeau seats made for it are no longer available. Here is why, and what that leaves you with.
- None of the bucket seats we supply fit the Ariel Atom
- Even our narrowest fibreglass and carbon buckets are too wide for the cockpit
- Standard frames and side mounts do not match the Atom's mounting layout
- Corbeau made Atom seats, but they have been discontinued
- The practical choice is the seating the car was supplied with
- We do list an SW Motorsports bolt-in rollbar for the Atom
What is on this page
The short answer
Our range covers hundreds of seats from the main brands, and we can find a seat and frame for most cars that come through the door. The Atom is an exception. The space between the chassis tubes is narrower than any of the bucket seats we supply, including the slimmest fibreglass and carbon shells, and the mounting layout does not match the subframes and side mounts made for normal cars.
So for an Atom owner, the practical choice is to keep the seating supplied with the car. We have no off-the-shelf replacement we can recommend, and anything else would be a custom fabrication job outside our range.
Why the Atom is so hard to fit
The chassis. The Atom has no body shell in the usual sense. The driver and passenger sit inside the tubular frame, and the seats have to fit between those tubes. The room for a seat is fixed by the chassis, not by trim that can be moved or cut.
The mounting. A normal car has floor mounting points where the factory runners bolt on, and a subframe for that car uses those points. The Atom does not share that arrangement, so the frames and side mounts we sell have nothing to bolt to.
The width. Most bucket seats are designed around a normal cabin. Even the narrow models that suit small cars are too wide at the hips or shoulders for the Atom’s seating space.
A small market. The Atom is a niche car, so there are very few seats designed for it. Seat makers build for the cars that most people race and drive.
What about the Corbeau Atom seats?
Corbeau did make a small range of seats shaped for the Atom's cockpit, with their own runners and mounting brackets designed around the chassis. They were the one ready-made route to a different seat in the car.
Those seats have been discontinued and can no longer be ordered, which is why we no longer list them. If that changes, or another maker brings out a seat for the Atom, we will add it to the site with full fitting details.
Why we will not suggest a make-do seat
In an open car like the Atom, the seat and harness do a lot of work. The seat has to hold you firmly and let the harness run at the right angles, and it has to be mounted securely to the chassis. Squeezing in a seat that is too wide, or bolting one on with improvised brackets, risks all of that.
That is why we would sooner tell you plainly that nothing in our range fits. If you want something different, Garreth’s advice is to speak to a specialist who works on Atoms and can build and test a proper installation.
What we can help with
We do list one Atom part: the SW Motorsports Ariel Atom rollbar, a bolt-in bar made from 45mm by 2.5mm CDS tube to the E355+N specification, powder coated in a choice of colours. It fits without welding and comes with its fittings.
If you have another car as well as the Atom, or you are building something else, we can help with seats, frames and harnesses for most road and track cars. Send us the car and your height and waist size, and we will come back with seats that fit you and the car.
Do any of your bucket seats fit an Ariel Atom?
No. Even our narrowest fibreglass and carbon buckets are too wide, and the mounting layout does not match standard frames.
Did Corbeau make seats for the Ariel Atom?
Yes, Corbeau made a small range for the Atom, but they have been discontinued and can no longer be ordered.
What should Atom owners do for seating?
Keep the seating supplied with the car, or speak to an Atom specialist about a custom installation.
Do you sell anything for the Ariel Atom?
We list the SW Motorsports Ariel Atom bolt-in rollbar.
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Our honest answerKeep the Atom's own seats
Nothing in our range fits the Atom, and we will not sell you a seat that does not belong in it.
Need a personal recommendation?
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