The original company was established by James Starley and William Hillman. They built wire-spoke wheels under the first British patent, which allowed them to build a lighter “penny-farthing” bicycle which they named ‘Ariel’ – signifying ‘the spirit of the air’. In 1885, James Starley’s nephew, John Kemp Starley, invented the Rover Safety Bicycle. Ariel merged with Westwood Manufacturing in 1896, and began producing powered tricycles in 1898, followed by motorised quadricycles in 1901.
Ariel began car production in 1902 with a 10 hp twin-cylinder model. Car production moved to Coventry in 1911 and ceased in 1925. In 1904, an Ariel car was the first to ascend Snowdon, using the mountain railway trackbed. The company was taken over by Components Ltd. in 1902, and in 1903 introduced its first four-cylinder model, the 15/19.
Components Ltd. suffered financial difficulties, including spells in receivership in 1911 and the early 1930s. In 1932, Jack Sangster, the son of Charles Sangster, bought the Ariel subsidiary from the receivers and renamed it Ariel Motors (J.S.) Ltd. A new factory was set up in Selly Oak, Birmingham. Influential designers Val Page and Edward Turner both contributed to Ariel’s success. Page created the engines that formed the basis for Ariel four-stroke singles until 1959, and Turner designed the Ariel Square Four in 1931, a 500 cc engine design that would later be increased to 600cc. The Red Hunter was also introduced, and Ariel subsequently purchased Triumph.
During the Second World War, the Ariel factory was repurposed for military production, including the Ariel W/NG 350 army motorcycle, based on the civilian NG model. In 1948, Ariel introduced a 500cc parallel-twin engine, offering the KG and KH models. In 1949, the Mark 1 Square Four engine was revised with a cast aluminium cylinder block and head to improve cooling, resulting in a machine capable of over 90 mph.
In 1951, Jack Sangster sold Ariel and Triumph to the Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA) and joined the BSA board. In 1954, Ariel launched the KHA, a high-performance version of the KH with an aluminium alloy cylinder head, and the FH, a 650cc parallel twin that used the BSA A10 engine. The FH proved popular with sidecar enthusiasts and was later named the Huntmaster, while the KH became the Fieldmaster. In 1956, Sangster was voted in as the new chairman of BSA, defeating incumbent Sir Bernard Docker by a vote of 6 to 3, and appointed Edward Turner head of the automotive division.
By 1959, Ariel had dropped its four-stroke engines and produced the Ariel Leader, a fully enclosed 250 cc two-stroke with a fully faired body. The company also made the Arrow, a more open version of the Leader. BSA closed the Ariel factory at Selly Oak in 1962, moving production to the BSA factory at Small Heath. Production of the 50 cc Pixie began in 1963, and the last Ariel motorcycle, the Arrow 200, was produced in 1965, ceasing production in 1967.
The ‘Ariel’ name was reused in 1970 with the Ariel 3, a 49 cc automatic tricycle with a tilting mechanism licensed from G.L. Wallis & Son. The design was later licensed to Honda, who produced it as the Honda Gyro. In 1999, a new company, Ariel Ltd, was formed, producing the Atom, a high-performance sports car, and the Ariel Ace motorcycle.
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