The latest version of the Ariel Atom is here, and it’s ready to take on whatever hypercar you can throw at it.

For the privilege of getting from zero to sixty in less than three seconds, most people expect to shell out hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars. Cars with that kind of speed have legendary names like McLaren, Lamborghini, Pagani, and Koenigsegg. They have frames made out of carbon fiber and engines that sip only the finest of octanes.

But what if there was a car that could give you all the performance of a Bugatti Chiron without any of the millions of dollars required to buy one? All you’d have to do is sacrifice a tiny bit on the creature comforts. Like having a roof. Or a door. Or much of a windshield.

This is the Atom 4, the fourth generation of barely-there sports car from British carmaker Ariel. It can do zero to sixty in 2.8 seconds--the same speed as a Lamborghini Aventador--and get from zero to 100 in 6.8 seconds. Top speed is basically as fast as you can endure the shearing winds.

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The first thing you notice about the Atom is there’s not a whole lot of car. That’s because it was designed for performance on a budget. It is road legal (although you may have difficulty getting it registered, depending on the state you live in), but only things that contribute to performance were included in the Atom’s construction. Doors might be handy, but they don’t make the car go faster.

At its core, the Atom is a purebred racer. At the back is the engine from a Honda Civic Type R, a 2.0-L turbocharged inline-four that Ariel has tuned to produce 320 hp and 309 lb-ft of torque. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but considering the car weighs barely over 1,300 lbs, that’s a better power-to-weight ratio than most supercars.

An iterative improvement over the previous generation of Atoms, the Atom 4 has an all-new steel-tube chassis, electronics, seating, larger brakes, bigger cooling system, and “more interior room.” We’re not sure how that’s possible given the fact you can stick your arm through the chassis into the open air, but whatever.

The Atom 4 goes into limited production this fall for deliveries beginning in spring of 2019. The price for all this performance is £39,975 (or about $53,000) which is a steal when you consider the caliber of car this thing can beat.

Just remember to invest in a nice helmet before you buy one.

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