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.
