20 GF4 - Dodge Tomahawk

Dodge Tomahawk

Let’s clear the road for this one! This is not a fantasy casting. The Dodge Tomahawk is an actual vehicle although it is not street legal. It debuted at the 2003 International Auto Show and was sold to the public in very low numbers as a "collectable" vehicle. There are a couple reasons for the low numbers and not being street legal.

1        1)  There is a highway safety rule stating that to be considered a motorcycle, vehicles considered as motorcycles can only have a maximum of 3 wheels touching the pavement (Allpar.com [1]). The Tomahawk has 4 wheels so it would be required to uphold the safety features of a car.

         2) The LED light system is not not street legal.

         3)  This vehicle was not designed to be street legal, it was designed as a shock and awe event.

Don’t grunt to much, there are approximately 9 in existence and they ran around the $550k figure brand new, most likely around $1m if you found someone willing to let one go! The Tomahawk has a Viper V10 strapped to a motorcycle frame with 2 wheels sandwiched up front and two wheels out back. According to Allpar.com, the motorcycle can do 0-60 in 2.5 seconds and has a top speed of close to 400 mph although other sites claim 420mph was the top speed.

Hot Wheels loves extreme vehicles and this one was an easy oh yeah. It is actually a great casting, even if you didn’t know about the real ones. The double wheels make it one of the few motorcycles that can stand up without props and actually rolls on its own. The chrome version that has been gifted to me and represented here is the 2005 release in the mainline.

There is not much surface to decal, but the Dodge logo is clear on the tank. The casting has all the right details, the throttle body inlets, the top mounted handlebars, the suspension parts and engine are detailed to a high level for such a small platform to work with. The Tomahawk has not been featured in a while and it was limited on release. The only years of standard mainline were 2004 – 2007. The Tomahawk has appeared in the moto line which is a little different than the main Hot Wheels line (including price point). All in all, the Tomahawk is another moment in time casting that may or may not make appearances so when it does, be sure to add it to your collection!

Thank you,

Collector Quentin

I now own the actual diecast pictured in this post. However, all packaging artwork, Mattel or Hot Wheels logos, paint descriptions and wheel descriptions are copyrights of the Mattel toy company.

[1] https://www.allpar.com/cars/concepts/tomahawk.html

#20-12 Rodger Dodger

 Rodger Dodger

Its all in the name sometimes. The Rodger Dodger is a great piece of Hot Wheels history. The casting continues to be featured in the mainline including 2020 releases. With some stints out of production, the casting has been around for 21 years! (excluding the out of production years)

     The casting was first released in 1974 [1]. It had a short run up to 1979 and then was re-tooled and re-released in 2000. The re-tooling just brought it up into the new century. However, in 2015 it was re-tooled again and brought the casting closer to reality as the exhaust was relocated from the hood to behind the front wheels and now exits below the front fenders [2]. The versions with the exhaust pipes on the hood is really cool but not sure if I can even imagine being able to see past them!

     Rodger Dodger is another fantastic creation of Larry Wood [3].  The latest release in the mainline (2020) is a gorgeous steam punk livery with gold and silver accents on a matte black paint. This release also has Grey wheels, something fairly new but really adds to the look of the steam punk look. 2019 also saw Rodger Dodger get released in the new id series line up (see my feature in the id series). It is an Amazon exclusive release and has another gorgeous livery in white, black and gold.

  From a collector’s angle, this is a gem. The first releases in the flying colors line are very difficult to track down and there is a very rare blue version of the first release. Rodger Dodger has been featured in several collector convention releases and the coveted treasure hunt line in 2001 and again in 2005 [4].

    

                    

    I personally owned a 1973 Charger SE with a 318. It was a fun, big car. It was no where near the pavement bruiser that the Rodger Dodger represents but I do wish I had though to invest in recreating the Rodger Dodger. I imagine the powerplant would be a 426 or 440 big block. Reminiscing, I remember a lot of fun with this car even though it wasn’t much on power. 70s era chargers have gained a lot of popularity in the real car collector market and seeing one at a car show is always a treat.

                  

Happy Hunting,

Collector Quentin

       

I own the actual diecast pictured in this blog post. However, all Hot Wheels packaging artwork, Mattel logos, Hot Wheels logos, wheel types and paint descriptions in regard to the Hot Wheels versions are copyrights of the Mattel toy company.

Dodge and Charger are copyrights of Fiat FCA LLC.

[1] Casting information gathered from:

https://hotwheels.fandom.com/wiki/Rodger_Dodger

#6 - Dodge Challenger (SRT)

Dodge Challenger

         Anyone that knows me these days knew this one was coming. Although they may not have known which one or when. I am going to cover a couple variations and Leave 2 models out there for a later review and discussion. I happen to have some real-world experience with this one as I have owned several and still have one to this day. For me, it began in the summer of 2008. I lived in a small town that had a race track located just on the edge of town. I saw the commercials and read all of the news upon the announcement of the return of my favorite muscle car, the Dodge Challenger. It would quickly become an obsession to own one. The reason I mention the race track is because before the cars hit the lots, Dodge was in Nascar and had a Dodge trailer of souvenirs at the track. I saw a tshirt with the concept car on it and bought the shirt without a thought. I told my dad (whom I was with at the track) that day that I would have one of these cars one day. When Hot Wheels started releasing challengers, I bought every version I could find on the pegs. Also found some nice Matchbox versions as well!

        And here are several that I was able to locate loose out of the collection to present. The orange version is the first ‘concept’ version and first release of this casting. It is called Dodge Challenger concept because it was not in on the streets just yet, it was in production. Mattel did a perfect job recreating the concept version and if you look close enough (I couldn’t quite capture it in the pictures), you can make out the concept grill with the cross design. They put tampos on the taillights for most versions, the Dodge logos are visible, the iconic hood stripes and the orange paint is all spot on. I will complain slightly at the door handles that are not correct and the spoiler on the SRT models (as this casting represents) were black – minor details but details none the less. Then it gets interesting. The casting got re-released once the cars gained popularity and real life sales. It was re-released as a 2012 Challenger SRT8. The green one represents this model. Also notable is the addition of the sunroof that tells you which model is which although the casting for the concept car was put on the shelf for a while. To summarize that, no sunroof=concept car, sunroof=real version. The 2012 version shows off the correct, updated grill, corrected door handles and the iconic gas lid that ties this car to the original 1970 Challenger it is modeled after.

        This body style ran from 2008 through 2011. In 2012, Dodge changed minor features to move the retro look from the 70 Challenger to the 71-74 Challenger with new split grill, separated tail lights and new interior but the basic shape remained the same. Mattel didn’t miss a beat. The 2012 SRT and the 2015 SRT castings have remained in the line up and appear in several specialty lines as well. There is also a famous drifter – Sam Hubinette that ran a challenger on the drift circuit for a while and his race livery was featured on the treasure hunt version in 2013. The challenger drift car model features a big drift wing on the back and lower rocker panel skirts. The liveries have been pretty stock for the regular models (which I like) and the drift car has had some wild liveries – Hubinette also had a red version that was featured on the inaugural release of the mainline drift car version. In my opinion, this is a great casting that captures all the looks and lines of the real car. The only thing I would like to see them add is an RT version so I can have a 1:64 version of my real-life car.

      There are a couple quick facts I would like to provide to help you recognize some of the interesting design notes on the real cars and will help tie the Hot Wheels versions to the real life cars. From 2008 to 2011, the SRT model had a 6.4 litre 426. The 2008 launch cars were all in hemi orange and featured a numbered plate on the dash. These cars were to represent the looks of the 1970 Challenger and Dodge really did a great job bringing the original looks into the present. If you want to debate that, I will post a picture in the comments of my 2014 Plum Crazy Challenger (real life) next to an original 1970 Challenger at a car show. This was the beginning of a new era in US Muscle cars – the “Retro”. Ford and the latest Mustangs started the retro trend and Dodge responded with the Challenger. The Chargers were out but were mostly police use and not as retro in the increasing muscle segment at this time quite possibly due to the fact that the chargers are all automatics. They are plenty powerful enough to be fun to drive but the curb weight keeps them from being top dog at the drag strip (until a later issue). 2012 saw some minor body changes, most notably was the front air dam was flipped over to provide better air flow and downforce. The carbon fibre look hood stripes became optional and a brand new 6.1 litre hemi 392 was the motor on the SRT versions. There were throwback colors (B5 blue, Plum crazy purple and the bright green through the coming years). 2014 would be the end of the style depicted here but gave way for a new interpretation and some more power options. The car is a little bulkier than the original but the lines are there and it is still unmistakable on the street. These cars have been featured in TV shows (NCIS Los Angeles) and the Fast and Furious movies to name a couple star appearances. Vin Diesel has also been doing commercials to help elevate the Hype for these cars. If you don’t have the 100K to drop on a real Hemi 426 Dodge Challenger from 1970, a 426 Challenger SRT from 2008 to 2011 can be found in healthy condition for less than 30k. The SRT versions from 2012-2014 (392) can also be found for around 35-40k in any area of the country.

        

Well, there is my trip to and through Muscleville (copyright FCA US LLC) and a look at one of my favorite cars of today. Until we meet again, hopefully it is in the check out line with a hand full of THs and a couple Challengers to boot!

As always, although I own the diecast pictured in these posts, all artwork, logos, car names, paint descriptions and wheel descriptions are copyrights of the Mattel toy company.

Matchbox is a trademark of the Mattel company.

Dodge, Challenger and some paint names described herewith are copyrights of the Dodge (now Fiat) or the FCA US LLC.