Welcome to the cheapest way into the beautifully crafted, exceptionally rapid and massively fun world of Ariel. Yep, your eyes aren’t deceiving you - it’s a motorcycle. 

The Ace has been around since 2014, but we’d forgive you for not knowing about it. After all, the Atom and Nomad get more than their fair share of attention, not least from us. And that’s not fair to the Ace, because in reality this is just as impressive a bit of kit as Ariel’s cars. Just look at the CNC machined, hand-welded aluminium frame, and those carbon mudguards. Cool, isn’t it? 

This particular Ace is called the “Ace of Diamonds”. Limited to ten examples, each built to order and tailored to the owner’s specifications, it costs from £19,982. For that you get Honda power, as indeed you do in every Ariel. The 1237cc V4 Unicam engine makes 173bhp and uses a six-speed transmission.

Slip is kept in check by switchable traction control, which helps the Ace on its way to 100kph in 2.9 seconds, and on to a top speed of 266kph. Meanwhile the suspension is by Showa and the brakes by Nissin, the tyres are by Dunlop and all the lighting is LED. The AoD also gets special paintwork and a plaque confirming its specialness. 

Production of the Ace of Diamonds, which is on display at the Motorcycle Live Show in Birmingham alongside the more extreme Ace R, will begin this year ahead of deliveries in 2019.