Eyal Melnick’s Drag-On Concept Packs a Camaro V6 Punch

Six-cylinder pony cars have, for better or worse, been derided by many as being “secretary specials” for, well, ever. And, in fairness, many youthful, independent career girls – and not just in the appointment-scheduling and dictation-taking fields, but also the likes of hairdressing, retail and teaching (Hi Mom!) – have signed on the dotted lines for such cars, usually because they were deemed by their purchasers to be sporty, cute, economical, a good value, and/or not too powerful for non-hoon feminine tastes.

But as the Bard of Hibbing says, the times, they are a’ changin’. The current V6 variants of the Camaro and Mustang both feature sophisticated four-cam, 24-valve mills producing in excess of 300hp, with exact figures that meet (in the case of the Mustang) or beat (in the case of the Camaro) the outputs of their immediate predecessors’ base V8s. How’s that for progress? It also begs the question: What other vehicles could benefit from these compact, rev-happy mills? For at least one industrial designer, the answer is motorcycles.

Eyal Melnick, who hails from Tel Aviv, Israel, has been drawing cars and bikes (as well as various household objects) for a few years now, but after sifting through his portfolio, we reckon this beast (dubbed the Drag-On) is his best work yet…and not simply because it’s got the V6 out of a car stuffed inside the frame. It’s a low-slung, relatively unadorned design with a wild set of tailpipes that appear to lead forward before curling back and out. Also, the tires (particularly the rear one) are quite fat, but considering Melnick envisions this machine as a drag bike for the street, that’s not surprising.

The fat tires also aren’t surprising given the fact that the back one has to put the GM 3.6L direct-injected V6’s prodigious power to the pavement. In a Camaro, it’s rated at 312hp and 278 lb.-ft of torque; no word on what it would make in the Drag-On, or the sort of transmission with which it would be joined. But one thing’s for sure: If it ever gets built (and we desperately hope some throttle jockey who happens to be made of money sees these renderings and commissions the construction of at least one example), it will be a much better use of the General’s “High Feature” V6 than a GMC Acadia idling in line at the Wendy’s drive-thru with a cabin-load of prepubescent Judo pupils. Just sayin’…

Source: Eyal Melnick