TOP GEAR MAGAZINE – USED CAR SUPERHEROES

"There's nothing quite like a Nomad"

In theory, you can get an Ariel Nomad for considerably less than our ‘top budget’ for off-roaders here, and the secondhand cars that pass through Ariel’s facility are absolutely within buying distance, even without the ‘perfect’ specification. But the point here is that if you’re going to go Nomad, you want to go full Nomad, and the spec and options list is more bespoke than a Savile Row tailor. You’ll want the supercharger kit with the HD clutch and short final drive. You’ll need the raised air intake, ITG filter gear, stainless everything and Alcon big brake kit. The big whippy light thing. Then there’ll be the FOX adjustables, competition-spec wishbones, rally spec wheels and mud tyres, carbon seats and WARN winch. Paddleshift? Probably. The list goes on. And on. The good thing is that a surprising amount of Nomads are optioned up the eyeballs, so all TG is doing here is giving you the financial leeway to get the secondhand Nomad of your dreams. When you do, you’ll get a car that’s equally happy being yumped off a Welsh rally berm as harassing much more suitable machinery  at a track day. And it’s the only car where a ‘trip into the gravel’ is seen as a fun excursion, rather than something that makes your insurer have a coronary. There’s nothing quite like a Nomad, and about the only negative to say about them is that they’re horribly draughty.