Last updated December 2, 2001

ERIC'S TOMAHAWK CHRONICLES

Around 1995 I started hearing rumors of a new rebody kit being developed for the early generation Z car named a Tomahawk Z, being built and sold out of he Sacramento, California area of the US. Not long after, I started receiving calls from Z owners wanting to know more about it or asking me to locate donor bodies for them to to build one on.

Like all new rumors, I paid little attention to the news at first. Later, one early caller showed up at the local Z DOCTOR shop with his freshly completed Tomahawk Z rebody while I was there and my interest to learn more and photograph a Tomahawk kicked into high gear. That was sometime in late 1996 or mid 1997.

Somehow, we could never get together until he gave me a call informing me that he and several other Tomahawk Z owners would all be attending the 1998 NCCKC (Northern California Kit Car Club) annual kit car show in Berkeley, CA. John Washington of VR Engineering and seller of a Ferrari GTO style rebody kit for the S30 Z cars, had also notified me that he would be there in case I'd like to meet up with him to talk shop and photograh the car he was bringing.

When I arrived, only one black Tomahawk was to be found in the show and my contact was nowhere to be found. After meeting John and roaming around a bit I came back to the Cobra-looking Tomahawk and started to shoot what I felt would be very disappointing angles of the black car because of it's close proximity to all the other show cars and people standing around it. I had just snapped 3 disappointing shots in what was a rather ideal, overcast light when my contact showed up and began a spirited conversation with a curious looking fellow standing behind me wearing a Spanish stlye western hat with a single feather rising out of it's silver buckled hat band. Kind of a "Zoro" style in looks, if you will.

In quick order I learned that this fellow was Rory Bateman, the designer and builder of the Tomahawk Z kits and that several more Tomahawks were now parked in the outer parking lot for me to look at. Soon, I found myself making introductory small talk with Mr. Bateman. Can't remembe what all we talked about at the time, but he told me he had tons of record shots of his shop and Tomahawk design and building history that he'd be happy to share with me if I'd care to scan them. As interested as I was in his offer and comments, I soon found myself out in the parking lot meeting several other Tomahawk owners including Vincent Hudson, the gentleman with the best looking Tomahawk I think I have seen anywhere. To say that he came across as a very exhuberant and and all around nice guy would be an understatement. Today, I am happy to say that he has become one of my best Z buddies. Since that meeting, I have photographed his "Purple Candy" (my coinage, not Vincent's) Tomahawk Z car numerous times with excellent results.

8/7/01 THIS WRITE-UP WILL BE ADDED TO OVER TIME, BUT FOR NOW THIS IS ALL I HAVE TIME FOR.

Eric Neyerlin - Photographer - Owner of