For more than half a century, automakers have used show cars, those often outrageous glimpses into the future of transportation, to build buzz and attract consumer attention to their brands.
Most true show cars serve little other purpose perhaps than to lend an occasional design element to a production model. But every now and then, even the savviest industry execs are caught off guard when a concept takes on a life of its own.
This year that show car is a motorcycle with four wheels, the Dodge Tomahawk.
Chrysler Group designer Mark Walters, the man behind the machine, says he’s been answering questions about the bike almost constantly since it was unveiled Jan. 6 at the Detroit Auto Show. “I can’t believe the amount of interest it’s generated,” he said.
Indeed, a Google search for the vehicle just two weeks after it was unveiled returned 908 listings, more than twice the total (384) for Chrysler Group’s four other 2003 concepts (the Dodge Avenger, Kahuna, Durango Hemi RT and Magnum SRT-8) combined.
That’s what happens when you create a concept that’s not only beautiful, but also purports to come within spitting distance of an 11-year-old motorcycle land-speed record (322 m.p.h.) right out of the box. Though Trevor Creed, senior vice president of design at Chrysler Group, said at the Detroit unveiling that the Tomahawk isn’t about setting speed records, the company believes the machine is capable of more than 300 m.p.h.
Walters, who rides a well-modified Moto Guzzi Sport 1100, said the idea originated last spring when two members of the Chrysler Group design office wondered whether a 505-cubic-inch, 500-horsepower Dodge Viper V-10 engine could be combined with a motorcycle chassis to create something akin to a Boss Hoss, a Chevrolet V-8-powered bike that’s been in production since 1990.
Walters was called in to sketch some ideas. His starting point was to take an electronic wire-form model of a human body and position it so as to “ride” a model of the Viper engine. Wheels, suspension, a seat and some bodywork were added around that.
Walters says his inspiration was an old Norton cafe racer, but the Tomahawk’s ergonomics are even more aggressive–like a drag bike, where the rider practically lies down, feet trailing behind.
Early in the design, the Tomahawk picked up the extra set of wheels at the insistence of Walters’ former boss, Freeman Thomas, who Walters characterized as a fan of “Tron,” the 1982 film in which Jeff Bridges participates in a gladiator game of chicken aboard a virtual motorcycle.
The Tomahawk’s dual wheels fore and aft allow the bike to sit upright without a kickstand.
At the Detroit unveiling, Creed said the concept was a go as soon as Walters’ radical sketches were shown to Chrysler Group Chief Operating Officer Wolfgang Bernard and Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche.
“It got the fastest green light I had ever seen,” Walters said.
The race to have the bike ready for the 2003 auto shows began June 23, when Walters started full time on the Tomahawk with engineer Kirt Bennett of RM Motorsports, a Michigan shop that rebuilds historic race cars. The challenge was to build a bike with “total credibility,” able to stop, lean and turn like a real motorcycle.
Part-by-part, Walters designed components and Bennett’s team forged them out of billet aluminum and turned them into a working motorcycle. The finished Tomahawk is a gleaming work of rolling art expressed in polished metal.
One of the big challenges was getting the contraption to lean like a motorcycle while keeping all four wheels on the ground. The key is the independent suspension, which uses single-sided control arms upfront, not unlike the innovative but abandoned systems used on the forkless front ends of the mid-’80s Elf GP bike and the Bimota Tesi.
Like the new Buell Firebolt, the Dodge evicts the fuel storage from its traditional above-the-engine home. The faux tank on the Tomahawk instead houses the airbox and an innovative cooling system. Two gaping snorkels protrude from its leading edge and serve as the engine’s intake manifold. The fuel sloshes around in the bottom of the front fender.
Also like the innovative Buells, the Tomahawk uses dual perimeter-mounted brake discs upfront, only it carries an extra pair of calipers to haul the enormous 1,500-pound lump to a stop.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about this concept, though, is that the company says it’s considering producing it in very limited numbers, say 100, which would be built by RM Motorsports and carry the Dodge name.
With a ballpark cost of $150,000-$200,000, they’d likely be playthings and collectibles for rich and famous enthusiasts.
One hitch if Dodge wishes to sell a street-legal motorcycle is that the Tomahawk, at least in its current form, isn’t really a motorcycle. Technically, a motorcycle must have two or thee wheels, so Walters says at least one, possibly two wheels will have to go.
He also said that while the single-seat Tomahawk is easy to balance thanks to its low center of gravity, it’s a bit of a beast to handle at low speeds. In addition to an increase in steering lock to make tight turns easier, the bike could stand to shed a few hundred pounds.
As of press time, Chrysler officials said they were 99.9 percent sure the Tomahawk will make an appearance at the Chicago Auto Show Feb. 14 through 23. 2-wheel Drive just wants to know if it can wheelie.
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Brian Neale is still riding at least a couple of times a month. Man, it’s cold out there. Email motojournalist@hotmail.com.
