The Ariel was an English automobile manufactured in Birmingham from 1900 to 1915, and again from 1922 to 1925. The company began by building motor tricycles and quadricycles, but a 10hp twin-cylinder car was being produced by 1902. In 1903, a 16hp four-cylinder was introduced; it was the company's first. These vehicles had a leather cone clutch that was entirely separate from the flywheel. A six-cylinder model, built on a seemingly inadequate tubular chassis, entered production early in 1904. An entirely new range was announced at the end of 1905; called the "Aero-Simplex", these cars were Mercedes-inspired fours of 15hp and 25/30hp and a six of 35/40hp. In 1907-08 the company began production of the monstrous 50/60hp six, which offered 15·9 liters for a chassis price of £950. In 1907 Ariel sold its Bournbrook, Birmingham factory to British Lorraine-Dietrich, and thereafter assembled its cars at the Coventry Ordinance Works. Production of a 1·3 liter light car was quashed by the outbreak of World War I. After 1918 the company tried one last, abortive attempt to cash in on the small car market; the Ariel Nine featured a flat-twin air-cooled engine, and was built by A. Harper Sons and Bean.