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From YourSITE.com Dodge
Dodge Tomahawk ConceptPicture yourself in whatever third-of-a-million-dollar supercar you prefer, your foot to the floor, flying at over 200 miles per hour – you’re the king of the road, nobody can touch you. Then, under the wail of your exotic’s engine, you perceive the exhaust note of a Dodge Viper. Your reaction is, naturally, “no way could a Viper be passing me right now, it’s not that fast.” You check your speedometer, which affirms your foot is on the floor and the engine is working just fine. Then some nutcase flies by you in motorcycle riding gear on what appears to be a motorcycle, and your senses and wits seem to be failing you. Your jaw drops to your chest accordingly. Then the rider slows, and – what the…he wouldn’t…o my God he is…he is doing circles around me at 220 miles per hour. Moreover, unbeknownst to you, the rider is only just past half throttle.
This scenario, however unlikely, has at least been made possible by your fellow dreamers at Dodge. Some crazy engineers built a four-wheeled motorcycle-like vehicle around the Viper V-10. It looks like one mean machine. Suspension arms reach out from the body and appear to put a strangle hold on the wheels. In the wheels one sees only solid metal. The body itself appears to be of metal beaten around the body of a beast, but with some softly sloping outlines, which give it the appearance of sleekness, and much more of raw power. One half expects flames or missiles to come screaming out of the dual headlights rather than simply light for your path. It looks like it would make the perfect vehicle for a hardcore futuristic superhero’s ride. The idea behind this shocking and amazing vehicle is simple. It comes from a company with great muscle car heritage. In muscle cars, the idea is to jam as many cubic inches and as much horsepower as you can into the car. With the Tomahawk, they just switched the order around a little, by putting just enough body around the engine to support a single operator, a couple of wheels, and something to hold onto.
The Viper V-10, still complete with the Viper logo on the cam covers, sends its 500 horsepower to both of the rear wheels, thus catapulting the Tomahawk to God knows what 0 – 60 time (perhaps simply described as “fast enough to keep your scream pushed back against your throat”) and a projected top speed of approximately 400 miles per hour. As Design V.P. Trevor Creed pointed out: “Dodge brand philosophy always challenges us to grab life by the horns,” but in the case of the Tomahawk, they’ll have to modify that to “grab and hold onto anything you can for dear life.” 
Dodge Avenger ConceptThe Dodge Avenger concept is the latest vehicle created with the intent of blending car characteristics with sports utility capabilities. The Avenger has a very unique, and very Dodge appearance to it. It features Dodge’s classic grille and bold lines throughout, similar to their other vehicles. Its appearance relates to other sedans much as Porsche’s 959 rally car compared to the 959 road car. It sits much higher off the ground and, with some wheel well bulges, appears much bigger and more muscular than any mere sedan. A rally car parallel was actually what Dodge came up with in their merging of the afore-mentioned vehicle concepts. In fact, Dodge sees this unique consumer vehicle as being something the U.S. market is lacking. Said Chrysler Senior Vice President of Design Trevor Creed: “In North America, [rally cars] are usually seen only in video games. But why limit someone with an active lifestyle…to something the size of a traditional SUV?”
Thus, we have the Avenger, with the bold, strong, up-front stance of an SUV, all wheel drive, room for four and plenty of cargo, but within a package much more suited to weekday city travel than an SUV. For the weekend warrior who doesn’t actually need all the space of a large or medium-sized SUV, this might be just the right automobile.
The interior, besides providing ample room, has a few surprises in store. Occupants will find themselves securely hugged in place with sporty seats, complete with four-point harnesses for spirited drives on and off the paved road. Instead of traditional carpeting or more common rubber found in off-road vehicles, the Avenger sports textured vinyl flooring. For increased entertainment, the driver will find steering wheel-mounted shift paddles to control the automatic transmission. And with a 3.5 liter V6 up front, the Avenger promises fun in the country sun – or city lights or in whatever off road mud you desire your Avenger to run.
Dodge Kahuna ConceptDodge took a look at surfer culture. Then they took another look at a vehicle with which they’ve had much success – the minivan – and some creative ways to make a new vehicle out of the same concept. They pooled their thoughts and came out with yet another concept that attempts to redefine a certain vehicle. The Kahuna concept has the basic shape of a minivan, but in the detail of its lines it looks like “Bug-eye Sprite or Beetle meets minivan.” The front features big round headlights incorporated into the familiar Dodge grille. With its long wheelbase and composite bird’s eye maple laminate on the side panels, it also conjures up memories of a former surfer’s vehicle of choice - the woody.
It looks like a fun car. It has bright, almost happy features, such as the big headlights, which lend to it the cute, bubbly persona of the Bug-eye Sprite. The frameless windows that run the side of the Kahuna promise to let lots of warm sunshine into the wide-open interior. And, if that’s not enough, Dodge put a unique feature up top – water resistant, see-through canvas! So at all times the interior will be bright and lively, including those times when the canvas top isn’t folded up at the back of the roof.
The interior is roomier than that of an ordinary minivan, thanks to minimalist designing. Thin doors and walls, a lack of bins down the center or in excess on the sides, and thin, hardy looking seats leave plenty of room for people to sit, roam and store large cargo. This interior theme continues Dodge’s interpretation of surfer culture – a wave rides through the width of the dash and along the outlines of the seats, and all but the floor lies in the hue of the ocean just after sunset – a mellow blue, somewhere between bright and deep. The floor is shod in a short hair carpet. The entire interior seems to have been designed to take care of itself under some rough use, so as not to spoil the fun. This concept is certainly too limited to replace the minivan, but it could really reach a young crowd with a little – but not too much – mullah. The Kahuna is a set of able wheels to get you out for some exploring, a little partying, a little of everything, especially good times. And with 215 ponies under the hood, the driver’s smile won’t be spoiled when their foot meets the floor. Windows down, roof back, sunshine in – road trip, anyone?
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