This is what happened when Mazda, Lotus, Aston Martin and even Renault decided to make motorcycles…

By Phil West

We’ve all heard of motorcycle manufacturers that moved into cars. It’s the classic progression, after all, with Honda or perhaps BMW the standout examples (although there are plenty of others, with BSA, Triumph, Suzuki and more among them).

But it’s much rarer to see it happen the other way round because, well, why would you?

Which is why, when the news emerged the other week of French car giant Renault unveiling a concept electric motorcycle, which follows hard on the heels of a spate of other car branded bikes recently, it got us thinking: how many other car branded bikes have there been over automotive history – and what happened to them?

We decided to find out. And, to be clear, we’re not talking about one off ‘special’s where a bloke from Dudley has made a bike out of an old Ferrari engine, we’re talking about proper, manufacturer commissioned two-wheelers. So here, below, in chronological order, are the Top 10 car makers who made bikes…

Mazda, the Japanese auto maker most famous for its rotary RX7 and MX-5 sports car, actually also made bikes. Sort of. In fact, it only briefly made a few bikes before turning first to three-wheelers then cars and only made a handful of them, so its qualifications are dubious. But we’re still including it here on the strength of how famous it is for cars – but not bikes.

The company actually initially made corks and was called Toyo Cork Kogyo, but in 1929 it began work on a prototype motorcycle. At the time, motorcycle racing was popular in Japan and in Hiroshima (where Mazda’s based), a race was a regular attraction, albeit mostly with imported bikes. What was to become Mazda began development of a prototype and in October 1930 the result, a 250cc two-stroke, entered and, to everyone’s surprise, won.

To celebrate, the company produced 30 examples but in 1931 it shifted its focus towards three-wheel, motorcycle-based trucks, which then evolved into cars. The company never looked back.

American auto maker Dodge is most famous for the Challenger (think General Lee in The Dukes of Hazzard) and has been building cars since 1914, which is why it was slightly odd that it chose to build its first bike in 2003. And what a bike it was. The Tomahawk was created initially as a one-off concept machine and unveiled at the 2003 North American International Auto Show, primarily as a publicity stunt for its then Viper sports car. It used that vehicle’s humungous 8.3litre V10 engine (which actually came from a truck) and due to its size and length as a result actually used four close-coupled wheels and a sophisticated hub centre steering system, which together prompted some observers to doubt its qualification as a motorcycle. The response was so great that later that year Dodge announced they would sell and hand-build a limited number of replicas. At a price of $555,000 it’s reported that nine were eventually built although this is hard to verify, as it’s not street legal there have been no independent road tests published and only and handful of viewings of it in action.

That all said, it was also the inspiration for the one-off Viper V10 motorcycle built by British engineer Allen Millyard, which is road legal, has been tested at over 200mph and remains in occasional use to this day.

NB pic supplied from: https://wallpapercave.com/dodge-tomahawk-wallpapers

The C-01 was the first ever motorcycle built by British automotive and F1 legends Lotus. And probably the last, too. Announced in 2014 it was designed by Daniel Simon, is powered by a tuned, 200bhp version of the 75-degree Rotax V-twin from KTM’s RC8R superbike and distinguished largely by its futuristic

features a carbon fibre monocoque which also acts as its bodywork. It was eventually manufactured under licence by Kodewa under a license from Group Lotus with a plan to build 100 examples although it’s not publicly known how many were actually made.

A slightly odd one, this, as French company Peugeot has been making cars since 1890 (and still does so) and made its first motorcycle in 1898 (and still makes scooters) – although the two concerns are now separate.

In fact, as recently as the 1950s, Peugeot was France’s leading motorcycle manufacturer, although thereafter increasingly concentrated on scooters and mopeds. Since 2014, however, Indian giant Mahindra has owned a 51% controlling stake in the two-wheeled business (with Peugeot, via parent PSA, holding the remaining 49% and allowing use of its brand image). Mahindra then took over total ownership in 2019 then, in 2023, Munich based private equity firm Mutares took over. Got that? Good.

All of which made the then Mahindra-controlled company’s unveiling of a new concept motorcycle at EICMA in 2019 all the more intriguing. A full-size roadster with a parallel twin motor, the mystery bike looked nearly production ready but sadly was never seen again.

Another two wheeled wonder that was the product of a link-up between a famous car brand and an equally famous bike one but this time one that’s a little more convoluted. Announced 2019, the AMB 001 was to be a futuristic, high powered, track-only bike based on revived Brough Superior underpinnings, built by that factory in Toulouse and was also the first two-wheeler to be branded Aston Martin. Delivers of the scheduled 100 machines began in April 2021 using a turbocharged version of Brough’s 997cc V-twin in an all-new carbon-fibre monocoque chassis producing a whopping 185bhp. Despite a price of €98,000, the run sold out and led to the announcement of a successor three years later, the AMB 001 Pro.

OK, we admit, it’s really a Ducati. In fact, its proper name is the Ducati Streetfighter V4 Lamborghini, but we reckon the tie-up between the two legendary Italian brands qualifies it to be included here. Unveiled in 2022 it’s a limited edition, special version of the standard Streetfighter V4 S which is slathered in carbon fibre and special accessories, draped in paint designed to evoke that of the Lamborghini Huracán STO and restricted to just 630 units with a further limited and numbered series of 63 reserved for special Lamborghini customers who ‘will have the opportunity to configure the bike with body colours and rims identical to the car they own’. How nice. Deliveries began in April 2023 and today they’re still selling for £66,000+. The link up came about, incidentally, simply because both Ducati and Lamborghini happen to be owned these days by Audi.

Announced in 2022, the 1300R was the product of a partnership between Brabus and KTM and was the German luxury performance firm’s first ever motorcycle. Brabus are based in Germany’s Ruhr region and specializes in the creation of high-end supercars and boats out of existing vehicles.

The 1300 R was based on KTM’s 1290 Super Duke Evo but with new styling, the circular headlight from Husqvarna’s Vitpilen and Svartpilen, new carbon-fibre scoops either side of the fuel tank, bespoke, Brabus exhaust,

carbon-fibre seat, special wheels and more. Just 154 examples were set to built and despite a price of around £35,000 all sold out within minutes prompted the announcement of an updated second edition version the following year.

Following the success of the 2022 Ducati Lamborghini, above, the Italian brand announced a follow-up ‘car motorcycle’ in December last year which is again the convenient result of the car brand also being owned by the same parent group – Volkswagen Audi. This time the link is with Bentley, the base bike is the Bologna firm’s power cruiser, and the result is tactfully called ‘Ducati Diavel for Bentley’. Limited to a numbered edition of just 500 units of Diavel for Bentley, and 50 units of Diavel for Bentley Mulliner reserved to Bentley clients, the bike again features a host of custom styling elements including bespoke forged rims designed to look like those found on the car, a two-tone front grill, fairing, and upper elements of the tank, different exhaust and is all finished in Scarab Green. Pricing started at a hefty £58,000!

Praga may not be the most familiar of car brands, but the historic Czech maker has recently burst back onto the supercar scene with its new £1m Bohema hypercar. It didn’t stop there, either. To help publicise the car and broaden its customer base it has now come up with this exquisite, Kawasaki W800-powered, hand-built ‘sister’ bike which is also a homage to Praga’s historic 1928 BD500 motorcycle. Slathered with carbon fibre and mouth-watering materials and crafted with clever engineering including a Hossack front end and quad disc Beringer brakes which mimic the look of drums it also costs a whopping €91,000 (around £78,000) for the standard version with this top spec carbon and gold version a whopping €98,000 (around £83,000). Just 28 were set to be built.

Renault are associated with many things, but the French car giant has never produced motorcycles – until now. Unveiled at the 2024 Paris Motor Show, as part of the reveal of the new Renault 4 E-Tech electric car, the brand also presented a mini-caravan, a plane, a water bike and an electric motorcycle, all battery-powered, all designed to pay homage to the legendary Renault 4 and help promote the new e-version and all set to go into limited production.

The bike is called the ‘Heritage Spirit Scrambler R4’ and has a steel frame, composite bodywork, 17inch wheels wearing scrambler-style Michelin knobblies, has Brembo brakes and is powered by a 7kWmotor delivering 280 Nm of torque. According to Renault, it’s capable of 99kph (61.5mph) with a range of about 110km (68miles). Just 10 are set to be built, each priced €26,900 (£22,360).