Ariel was a bicycle, motorcycle and automobile marque manufacturer based in Bournbrook, Birmingham, England. The company dates back to 1847 when Ariel made an early pneumatic-tyred wheel for horse drawn carriages. The name was revived by James Starley and William Hillman in 1870 when they invented the wire-spoke wheel which allowed them to build a lighter weight bicycle and named it Ariel (the spirit of the air).
The first Ariel vehicle was a Tricycle that used a 2.25 hp De Dion engine mounted at the rear. More tricycles were produced and quadricycles were added in 1901 as Ariel then moved into car production.
In 1926 Ariel abandoned the car market to concentrate on motorcycles. Ariel motorcycles ceased production in 1967.

// SHOP
Shop Autonaut Ariel T-shirts at Spreadshirt America
Shop Autonaut Ariel T-shirts and other products at CafePress

// INFO
Read more on Ariel vehicles at Wikipedia
Read more on Ariel motorcycles at Wikipedia