What Happened to the Dodge Tomahawk?
February 24, 2010
Dodge, a division of the Chrysler Corporation, was mainly known for producing fairly average cars for average Americans. Some of their vehicle lines performed well but none of their cars were particularly special.
This changed in 1992 with the launch of the Dodge Viper. This car was not meant for the daily commute to work or for taking the kids to soccer practice. This limited production vehicle was built for high performance. The cornerstone of the Viper is the V-10 engine, which produced over 400 horsepower back in 1992. Today, the Viper pumps out an amazing 560 horsepower. The Viper is a bad machine.
What would happen if all that raw power was harnessed on a motorcycle?
That question was answered when Dodge launched the motorcycle-like Tomahawk in 2003. The Tomahawk essentially was the Viper engine on a motorcycle: an insane concept but one that was thought of as design and engineering genius.
This vehicle produced over 500 horsepower and had an estimated top speed of over 350 MPH. By contracts today’s most powerful production motorcycle, the Suzuki Hayabusa, has a top speed of about 185 MPH and produces 197 horsepower.
More impressive than it’s raw power, the Tomahawk ushered into the motorcycle world an innovative design. The Tomahawk has 4 wheels but the vehicle was designed to handle like a motorcycle. This ‘quadricycle’ design was the innovation that many felt would be a mainstay with the motorcycle industry. This new platform was thought to be the catalyst for new design and performance standards.
So, what happened? The concept went nowhere.
At a cost of a cool $500,000, only about 9 of these vehicles were ever sold. As a result, very few people have seen a Tomahawk in person (myself included).
Personally, I think the Tomahawk has merit but only if the concept can be adapted for everyday motorcycle buyers. While the original Tomahawk was built for only the most elite of automotive and motorcycle enthusiasts, I think regular motorcycle buyers would consider this vehicle at a much lower price point.
Hopefully, a motorcycle company will be daring enough to pick up where Dodge left off.
Posted Under: Hot Bikes Tags: concept motorcycles, motorcycle design, motorcycle innovation, motorcycle world, quadricycle, Suzuki Hayabusa, Tomahawk
