Wolfgang Bernhard is back... at Magna?
This is the man who brought the world the Dodge Tomahawk and advised the three-headed dog in its acquisition of Chrysler from the Germans. Former Chrysler Chief Operating Officer Wolfgang Bernhard is apparently working in an advisory role to Magna International at is tries to find its way through the morass that is today's auto industry. Automotive News reports that Bernhard is currently focusing on Magna's Russian business. More than half of Magna's business is currently with U.S.-based automakers, which are going through a particularly hard time right now in case you hadn't noticed. Magna wants to increase its overseas sales and that's where Bernhard comes in. It's not known yet if Bernhard will take up a full-time spot with Magna, but we for one would like to see him back in the role of a major power player in the global auto industry.
[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Steve Neill 10:45AM (1/14/2009)
I think I speak for most of us when I say we don't care about the guy on the bike in the picture...
We just want the bike.
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IOMTT 10:58AM (1/14/2009)
This thing looks cool, but it would have it's a** handed to it by a proper motorcycle. Car engines make poor motorcycle engines, but bike engines sometimes make good car engines. Besides, this thing has 4 tires so I am not sure how one would classify it...
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exkart 11:54AM (1/14/2009)
I wanted it then, and I still want it now.
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thomas 11:54AM (1/14/2009)
have you read about the tomahwak?? pretty sure there are no "proper" motorcycles capable of 420 mph...
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IOMTT 1:15PM (1/14/2009)
This will not go 420...top fuel drag motorcycles with 1000HP won't go 420. I do not think the land speed record for wheel driven motorcycles is 420. All performance data with the Tomahawk was THEORETICAL as in not real. I will not even go into cornering. A 250cc bike would probably smoke this thing around a racetrack.
thomas 10:57PM (1/14/2009)
oh i know it will get smoked around a race track..... but i think in a drag race the 500HP engine with wheels has the edge.
and yes i know it theoretical. cuz no one's worked up the nerve/deathwish to test it to its limits.
coolremo 12:55PM (1/14/2009)
the guy on the bike looks like Cross (Thomas Kretschmann) from the movie Wanted.
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3534981632/nm0470981
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aii 1:14PM (1/14/2009)
thomas, who cares? if you had read anything about top speed efforts you would know that hp/weight/gearing theories are worth SQUAT. no, for a machine to go that speed it needs to be much more heavily engineered, more reliably built (things go WRONG at high speed, see also the top gear host drag racing), and much, much more aerodynamic.
the tomahawk is a pointless turd that would be lucky to hit 120mph in practice, and even a stock busa would utterly obliterate it (and still get the rider home at the end of the day). the tomahawk is, as described by its creators, a rolling sculpture to showcase the sight and sound of that awesome engine.
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amfan12 3:33PM (1/14/2009)
Tomahawk would be lucky to hit 120? While it still weighs a ton, it weighs much less then a viper, it also has much less aerodynamic drag and you are saying it would barely hit 120? That same engine can take a Viper upto 200. I bet if it were to be tested, the bike could hit 270-300.
IOMTT 10:20PM (1/18/2009)
@AMfan12...nope, 500 HP would not push it that fast. Streamliner motorcycles with similar HP have cracked 300, but none look like a motorcycle. Motorcycles are just not very aerodynamic, although they have little frontal area. They have major issues controlling airflow. I also bet this bike weighs more than you think...
dukeisduke 1:59PM (1/14/2009)
Peter DeLorenzo's take in today's Autoextremist is that Cerberus may part out Chrysler to Magna and Nissan/Renault.
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fernan 2:12PM (1/14/2009)
well doesnt his contract say he has to wait a couple of years to work for another major automaker ?
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