We bring to your attention some crazy and curious piece motorcycles with logos of famous car brands such as Ferrari, Lamborghini, Dodge, and Lotus.
Dodge Tomahawk
A sample of engineering extremism! The dream of adrenaline maniacs! The perfect motorcycle to get the Darwin Award!
A very, very large engine is snuffling behind the polished bastions of the side linings. Engineers by hook or by crook included in the power structure of the “Tomahawk” … 8.3-liter V10 from the Dodge Viper supercar. Against its background, absolutely all motorcycle engines fade, including a giant inline “3” with a volume of 2.3 liters of the British power cruiser Triumph Rocket III. The special piquancy of the situation is given by the mass of the 507-strong aluminum monster. He alone weighs under three hundredweight, like a Harley-Davidson Fat Bob! Anticipating the exciting questions about the curb weight of Dodge, we will answer — 680 kg, like three normal motorcycles.
Did you also feel goosebumps running down your back from the very thought of taking the motorcycle off the running board? And what does it feel like to accidentally put a Tomahawk on its side? This is not a road “six hundred” Yamaha FZ6, you will need a crane here! The creators of the monster took into account the “difficult moments” and, for permanent stability, endowed it with four 20-inch wheels with tires measuring 120/60 in front and 150/50 in the rear. An interesting feature of the mega motorcycle is an independent suspension for each front wheel with spaced steering and damping functions.
The Tomahawk was built as an exhibition conceptual specimen with exciting characteristics. Surely many people would be interested in checking the claimed 2.5 seconds to 97 km / h (60 mph) and a maximum speed of over 300 mph (more than 480 km / h) in practice, but the manufacturer rightly considered that such equipment on public roads would lead to a steady decline in the population of the States.
Lamborghini Design 90
The company from S.Agata Bolognese is not only a wonderful long-standing tradition of mid-engined supercars but also a Design 90 sport motorcycle from the mid-eighties. Its creation took place during the ownership of Lamborghini by Swiss brothers-entrepreneurs Jean-Claude and Patrick Mimran.
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The now-living French brand Boxer was connected to the development. The result turned out to be defiant even for the “space” eighties.
Design 90 was distinguished by a more than moderate curb weight (184 kg) and, as a result, a cool power ratio that allows you to gain almost 260 km /h.
Noticeably heavier contemporaries of the two-wheeled Lamborghini were not much inferior to him in terms of maximum speed, but the weight difference instantly turned them into outsiders on tracks and winding roads. Those who reached the exclusive sports motorcycle admired the handling and dynamics unattainable for other models.
The company planned to release 25 copies, but the whole idea was ruined by an astronomical price tag of $13,500. As a result, six motorcycles were produced, and they calmed down.
Ferrari 900
The Milan Motorcycle Exhibition of 1952 prepared a surprise for visitors — on one of the stands, there was a scarlet single-cylinder motorcycle with the inscription Ferrari on the fuel tank. Contrary to the nameplate, Enzo and his team had nothing to do with the development. The bike was exhibited by the local company Meccanica Italiana Fratelli Ferrari. A few years later, its owners were invited to court for proceedings around the name, which, following the results of the lawsuit, was forcibly changed to Fratelli Ferrari. Nevertheless, in the history of the stable from Maranello, there was not without motorcycle! He had no direct relation to the brand, although he was born with her blessing.
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The one-of-a-kind model was built on the initiative of British engineer and ex-MV Agusta employee David Kay. In 1990, in an official letter, he talked about a promising model and asked the management of Scuderia Ferrari for permission to decorate it with a prancing stallion logo. The act of a true gentleman and enthusiast touched Piero Ferrari, Enzo’s son and then president of the company. On May 23 of the same year, he gave the go-ahead and wished the author of the project good luck. Five years later, the Ferrari 900 debuted.
The motorcycle was not planned as an exclusive rival to the advanced Ducati 916 or Honda CBR900RR Fireblade — on the contrary, it is imbued with deliberate old-fashioned. A simple duplex “skeleton”. Its pipes embrace a 900 cc 16-valve “four” of air-oil cooling with a moderate capacity of 105 hp at 8800 rpm.
Deliberate heaviness is an illusion. The use of magnesium, carbon fiber, and aluminum allowed to reduce the weight to a weightless 172 kilograms.
The maximum speed of 256 km/h did not amaze the imagination. Alas, the entourage and engineering solutions do not correspond too much to the logo and generally hardly fit into the canvas of the image of a Ferrari motorcycle.
With the price of the Ferrari 900, an incident also came out. In 2008, they tried in vain to sell it at auction for 180,000 pounds (about 220,000 euros). Later, he unsuccessfully showed up on the eBay online platform, having risen in price to 250,000 pounds (about 306,000 euros).
Lotus C-01
The British brand Lotus has a rather indirect relationship with the C-01 project. It was implemented jointly by the German racing team Kodewa Racing (now ByKolles Racing) from the FIA World Endurance Championship, and their compatriots Holzer Group with many years of experience in motorsport. In general, not “Lotus”, but one name. More precisely, branding.
The source of inspiration was the legendary formula Lotus 49 of the late sixties, although it is difficult to guess from the design.
The powerful fairing visually merged with the gas tank, hides a V-shaped “two” with a volume of 1195 cc from the KTM 1190 RC8 sport motorcycle, boosted to 200 hp. A turn of the ignition key, a short press on the electric starter key, and the Austrian “twin” wakes up with soul-enchanting thunderclaps!
The weight of the motorcycle is 181 kg due to the use of titanium and carbon fiber. It is completely devoid of an anti-lock braking system, traction control, and a system for selecting driving modes.
Read also: The best motorcycles of 2022
The power is controlled only by the pilot’s experience and sanity. However, it is unlikely that the owners of a unique creation from a batch of only a hundred copies risk it on the track.
