Dodge Tomahawk
It looks like a motorcycle. It sounds like a supercar. It's not street legal in the US. You could, if you had one, only drive it on private roads or on a track. And you could do so at high speeds.
Very high speeds.
It's got 500 horsepower. It goes from 0 to 60 in 2.5 seconds. It has a theoretical top speed of over 400 miles an hour. And you can actually steer it.
And you could, at one time, actually buy one.
Car Lust? Motorcycle Lust? Hard to tell. Technically, it was considered
by Chrysler as a "concept motorcycle", but US law defines a motorcycle as
having no more than three wheels. Hence, to be street legal it would
have to meet all safety standards for automobiles. Which it obviously
can't. It's about the closest thing you can get to an engine with wheels.
And the engine is the 8.3 liter V10 Viper, mated to a manual 2-speed gearbox driving dual 110-link chains delivering 525 pound-feet of torque to the two rear wheels. The body and wheels are billet aluminum and the whole thing weighs 1500 pounds. Though it isn't technically a motorcycle -- a quadcycle is probably the most accurate -- it still turns like one, by leaning. 
Though it never went into production, Chrysler sold nine of them through Neiman Marcus for $550,000, billing it as "a pure mechanical sculpture and a joyous celebration of the artistry and emotion of design."
Well, yeah, that and it's wicked cool.
Wolfgang Bernhard, then COO, was supposedly keen on putting it into production at some point and the numbers I've seen tossed around had them being sold at somewhere south of $200,000.
So it's not very practical. But anyone paying that amount of money probably isn't much interested in comfort and practicality.
The video below was provided by AllPar.com who also host the photos seen here.
...m... on December 23, 2008 at 11:58 AM
...ooooh, teh shiney!..
...i wish more concept vehicles were routinely put into limited production as a design exercise - sure, they'll have kinks galore and quite a few impracticalities in actual use, but oftentimes the coolness factor is so great that you just don't care...the tomohawk look ridiculous, but it's also a ridiculously visceral expression of power, a caricature of y-chromosome boorishness that one can't help but love for its raw honesty...
...plus this piece has me pining for something on the peraves ecomobile...
XI on December 23, 2008 at 01:12 PM
"Though it isn't technically a motorcycle -- a quadcycle is probably the most accurate -- it still turns like one, by leaning. "
Does it actually turn? i mean, without falling over? Every video I've seen of it being driven, its only in a straight line. It actually looks pretty stupid being driven, even by the Stig lookalike they hired for that PR video.
As a piece of mechanical art, I must admit its pretty badass. As a motorcycle, its pathetic.
Anthony Cagle on December 23, 2008 at 01:33 PM
I'd thought that this thing actually could turn. . . .I know I've seen *something* with two front wheels that could do that. Had some sort of special suspension that allowed both wheels to lean properly together. This video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zINujts5oZM&mode=related&search=) seems to show it about halfway in.
Mochi Mochi on December 23, 2008 at 01:54 PM
i don't want to rain on anyone's parade, but just buy a frackin' rocket pack and strap it to the aft of a Hayabusa. or better yet get a RollsRoyce jet engine from the RAF and mount it on a super cart or baby carriage. this thing is just like over-produced porn where everybody and everything silicone injected and about as real as a 3-dollar bill.
As a designer and motorhead i can completely see the visceral (and visual) appeal of this vehicle, but as a motorcyclist all i can see are the failings of this utter monstrosity. i have seen a lot of videos of the tomahawk. I challenge anyone to find a single image of this enormous pig cornering or leaning or doing anything other than riding in a straight line. YOU WILL NEVER SEE IT CORNER. I'm guessing that this locomotive comes with a round-house docking station - drive in and stop, the docking station turns 180 degrees, and you go back the way you came.
Let's start with problem number one, it weighs 1500 lbs!!! 500lbs is a heavy weight in the motorcycle world. Lotus can make a complete car that weighs less than 1500lbs. There's something WRONG and STUPID when you make a vehicle like this and it weighs that much. A good designer would say to himself "it weighs more than 600lbs, that's obviously wrong! lets start over".
While watching the video i was just horrified by what i saw. Look at how this thing rocks from side to side while traversing uneven road conditions. Have you ever driving a narrow track car and had your head snapped left and right going over a rough road? This thing is a fraction of the width of a car but wide enough so it tilts as it tracks the ground. A true moto would just run straight up and never be affected by tilting road conditions. But look how the rider has to constantly adjust just to go in a straight line. Imagine this thing at speed, i'm guessing it would fall over as it reached a harmonic in its sway.
"Wolfgang Bernhard, then COO, was supposedly keen on putting it into production" This man is clearly insane and needs medication.
Next look at the way it lifts and dives during acceleration. Not good. not good for a car, really not good for a moto. I give the rider credit for running this thing, but clearly it's the adrenaline filled thrill of being close to death that motivated him to get on this thing in the first place. There are so many amazing motos in the world why bother with a beast like the tomahawk. There are so many motos that are already complete widow makers what would possess anyone to put something like this on the road.
Back in the 70's anyone with a few extra bucks in their pocket could buy a Kawasaki Triple 750 2-Stroke, probably one of the fastest and most dangerous motos ever built for the road. Open the throttle and you could watch the frame flex as the engine overwhelmed the structural integrity of the bike. That was where we learned that the wrong engine and frame pairing could push a bike into zones of complete instability. Still a Kawi Triple 750 H-2 holds the record for the fastest nitrous injected 750 cc motorcycle, with a standing quarter-mile of 7.776 seconds at 170 mph.
The point is you or anyone can have completely scary power in a moto and it will be better and handle better than a tomahawk. want to go insanely fast, drag bikes are easy to buy or build. hell a modern street bike has scary power and acceleration.
I watched a video of some chrysler exec talking about the tomahawk. he said "it gives our designers a chance to show off... there's a PR benefit to showing off just how good we think we are". HUH - How Good you are!?! Are you completely nuts? Basically we have a car company with a serious set of problems in just producing vehicles for the US market talking about a completely deranged vehicle design of massive excess that will never be as good or likely as fast as the average superbike from japan. You can buy a Hayabusa for under $12k and that is the world's fastest production bike capable of exceeding 200mph.
...m... wrote:"it's also a ridiculously visceral expression of power, caricature of y-chromosome boorishness" i agree completely, but "raw honesty" i don't think so. this thing is quite a piece of sculpture and surely great theatre, but there's nothing honest about it. this is big-3 arrogance, self-aggrandizement, and self-delusion - it's a chrysler exec's wet dream full of steroids and silicone breast implants.
Ok rant over, I love the theatre of the tomahawk, and it does look really cool - even if it's a total piece of crap. Thanks for posting this Anthony. really fun article and truly provocative.
...m... on December 23, 2008 at 02:26 PM
...mochi, do you truly believe that anyone would take the tomahawk seriously, or even that its builders expect them to do so?..it's so over-the-top that there's practically a neon sign above it flashing NUDGE-NUDGE-WINK-WINK in sixty-foot futura condensed bold...
...clearly brutal theatre is its entire point, and it states that with such blantant immediacy that there's vanishingly narrow space left for doubt that it's honest about its intentions as a circus of hyperbole: to dwell on its real-world performance misses that entirely...
Mochi Mochi on December 23, 2008 at 02:38 PM
do i take the tomahawk seriously? no. it is obvious threatre, just like any good rant;) do i think that everyone - including the chrysler execs - understand that it is only theatre? sadly, no i don't. especially the execs... delusions of grandeur are the hallmark of lunacy and detroit.
and i still have not seen this thing corner - leaning a little at rest does not count!
btw, ...m..., the peraves ecomobile is nice. i want one.
Rob the SVX guy on December 23, 2008 at 03:45 PM
Get your own smaller version for only $1400.
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/08/01/chinese-companies-selling-1-400-dodge-tomahawk-knock-off/
They're on craigslist around here all the time. I was thinking it'd be kinda neat to buy and throw something more potent in. :)
Mochi Mochi on December 23, 2008 at 06:11 PM
thanks rob, that's hilarious. a chinese 150cc scooter engine with a CVT driving a tomahawk replica. like i said not everyone sees this thing as sheer theatre or a joke. but the more i think of this the more it seems almost operatic in scope. like some crazed construction from a Wagnerian opera. I can totally see a bunch of valkyries riding tomahawks onto the stage during the Ring Cycle at Bayreuth.
if you do get one try dropping a kawasaki triple into it. if you are going to ride something completely insane like that you might as well have an insane powerplant for it. personally i'll stand behind the lexan wall and watch as the parts begin to fly.
FredTownWard on December 23, 2008 at 06:43 PM
I think Mochi Mochi is being a bit too hard on the Tomahawk though I've no doubt that all of his criticisms are valid. It was after all a CONCEPT car or motorcycle in this case. How many of those have ever gone into production without LOTS of changes, if ever? I thought the whole point of concept cars was to put together something that LOOKS really exciting while you are learning what will actually work and what won't.
H'm, I wonder if Batman's recent movie motorcycle owes any inspiration to the Tomahawk?
Mochi Mochi on December 23, 2008 at 08:48 PM
I probably am being to hard on the tomahawk. i admit i was feeling a little moody and in need of a good rant. but look at it this way, had this been a cute little scooter or some iron curtain cold-war throw back, you never would have heard anything but praise from me... i would have loved it like it was my own child(sniff). But no... this was not a cute little hapless awkward underpowered sub-miniature bit of antediluvian moto tech, this is some kind of brazen hyperthyroid throw everything and the kitchen sink marketing on steroids ridiculousness. hence my rant.
Best of the season everyone!
Cookie the Dog's Owner on December 24, 2008 at 04:19 AM
In a world where something as mythical and monstrous as this physically exists and can be bought through Nieman-Marcus, is there any room left for the Loch Ness Monster, or Bigfoot, or leprechauns? (Okay, okay, the leprechauns and their pot of gold will fit nicely inside the engine if it comes to that, but you know what I mean.)
Portidogg on December 24, 2008 at 07:10 AM
40 mph maybe, 400 mph NO. Looks cool but we all agree not practical. I'm happy with the Harley product.
Anthony Cagle on December 24, 2008 at 08:53 AM
I grant it a lot of leeway, it being a concept and all. It would take a lot of development and more engineering to make it live up to its theoretical specs. Piaggio got the dual-wheel steering thing working (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piaggio_MP3) so one would assume the Tomahawk would eventually get around to it.
I didn't mention it in the post, but I love the name. Barely controlled, semi-reckless speed.
That Car Guy on December 24, 2008 at 10:26 AM
Please help me with this... does the great car guy Jay Leno own one of these, or a bike powerered by a jet engine, or maybe even both? Seems he was asked one night how many vehicles he has, and it was somewhere between 80 and 90... and that was years ago!
...m... on December 24, 2008 at 11:38 AM
...i'm glad that you brought up harley-davidson, portidogg, because it brings to light a curious discongruity in my reactions: i think the outlandishly impractical tomahawk is a pretty fun bike, yet i hold little respect for the emminently more pragmatic harleys for exactly the same traits...it think it's because harleys take their pretense more seriously, that for all the meticulously-crafted liquid testosterone condensed into their brightwork, there's a core conceit of performance disingenuous in its implementation, whereas the tomahawk's so ridiculous that it's clearly intended as nothing other than a design statement...
...by the way, anthony, that piaggio MP3 is an extremely cool piece of engineering!..
DaveP. on December 24, 2008 at 08:29 PM
"Theoretically" capable of 400 MPH?! Feh.
One used 'Busa- $10K, if you want one in good condition.
One Mr. Turbo installation- less than $3000.
All the speed you need= less than $13 k, and you can even drive it to work.
Asterio on December 25, 2008 at 11:49 AM
So, I guess we can all agree: This wasn't Chrysler's best idea.
Who actually bought this monster anyway?
...m... on December 25, 2008 at 01:28 PM
...i think i read somewhere that michael bay has one, but that's like third-degree hearsay so i'm unsure if there's any veracity behind the claim...
Jim Bob on December 26, 2008 at 01:45 AM
As a piece of mechanical sculpture, it's brilliant. From a usability standpoint less so. Were I to try and build something with a similar amount of power in a motorcycle, I would use the 500hp V8 from a V8 Ariel Atom (A very lust-worthy car in itself!). Now this is not your typical automotive V8 engine. Rather it is a custom block, crank and rods used to mate 2 GSXR 1300 Hayabusa engines together as 1 V8. It has very little low end torque, which is key to making a drivable motorcycle when you have that much horsepower. It also is very light, only weighing 240lbs if memory serves. Now the reason you want to eliminate low end torque in a light vehicle is that it will never hook up otherwise as there is not enough weight on the wheels. By shifting the power curve upwards, it lets you get the vehicle off the line and overcome the initial inertia then apply the power after you get going. You can't do that with a Viper V10, but you can do that with a short stroke bike or snowmobile engine.
IndyDurango on December 29, 2008 at 12:02 AM
So with no cars selling, no banks loaning and no new products beyond 2011 in the Chrysler pipeline…
… what's an auto beat writer to do?
Well, write… er rewrite… a review on the 5 year old Dodge Tomahawk of course.
:?: :?: :?:
IndyDurango
Mochi Mochi on December 29, 2008 at 09:20 AM
@IndyDurango... hah! you must have missed the CarLust reviews of the Matador, the Trabant, and the Cordoba. So ahead of the times CarLust is reviewing all the cars you'll be driving after the apocalypse;)
Chris Hafner on December 29, 2008 at 09:28 AM
IndyDurango: "So with no cars selling, no banks loaning and no new products beyond 2011 in the Chrysler pipeline…
… what's an auto beat writer to do? Well, write… er rewrite… a review on the 5 year old Dodge Tomahawk of course. "
You're completely right - except for the fact that none of us are auto beat writers and that we're just talking about cars that interest us, not current events. If you're looking for current events in the automotive world, there are a number of other blogs that do that. We write about irrelevant stuff and have a great time doing it.
Anthony Cagle on December 29, 2008 at 11:08 AM
Ah, geez, Chris, I was rather enjoying my status as an 'industry insider', temporarily and virtual though it was.
IndyDurango on December 29, 2008 at 06:10 PM
Gotcha! I should have read a bit more around the site instead of stumbling onto it from a current affairs link. Sorry. I jumped in with both feet and one ended up in my mouth! ;/
FWIW, I thought the Dodge Shadow I bought new and put 154000 miles on was both under-rated and a good buy to boot. :)
Anthony, Insider Status granted from afar. ;)
IndyD
on February 06, 2009 at 04:34 AM
i want one