2009 Campagna T-Rex: The Car That Is Two-Thirds Motorcycle

Campagna T-Rex on the Road

Some of you may have heard of the Campagna T-Rex before and for some of you this may be a new introduction. The T-Rex is produced by a company located outside of Montreal, Canada called Campagna. This group, originally housed in Quebec, Canada, has made the T-Rex available commercially since the mid-1990s and it is no secret what makes these vehicles appealing to the sports car and motorcycling crowd.

The current T-Rex is powered by a 197 hp Kawasaki four-stroke, liquid-cooled, DOHC, four valve per cylinder, inline-four. Since the 2009 Campagna T-Rex weighs only 1040 lbs it can be propelled 0-60 mph in 3.92 seconds. And at 138 inches long and 78 inches wide you won’t have trouble finding parking after you are done burning down the highway. So what is the catch? Since it is based on a motorcycle platform and only has three wheels, most states within the U.S. will consider this a Trike. One more thing that might stop the average person from running out and buying one is the entry price—$49,995 MSRP with a minimum $1000 destination fee.

2007 Campagna T-Rex

The Trike designation proves to make driving (or is it riding?) this vehicle a little more difficult. In Colorado they have now passed a law that you have to meet the requirements and pass a separate test in order to operate a Trike. So if you have the motorcycle endorsement and would like to buy a T-Rex you would have to go back through another test or class and qualify for an additional endorsement. Another quirk in the logistics of driving such a vehicle is that some states require you to wear a helmet. Now the need for a helmet is a debate that goes back decades, but when we are talking about wearing a helmet in a vehicle with seat belts, a roll cage and crash zones it doesn’t seem to fit within the parameters of the normal car. I mean can you say blind spots?

All the quirks aside, the reviews and owner accounts of the Campanga T-Rex are that it is a true racing inspired machine. It has a 6-speed sequential gear box (part of the motorcycle influence), racing pedals and handling that would make you think you are on rails. All of the performance is wrapped in a nice package that the manufacturers say is more practical than the average motorcycle. Did I mention the 7-gallon gas tank capacity? At an estimated 37-mpg you could actually drive some distance before you needed to fill up—unlike my Suzuki that has a 3-gallon tank.

Bottom line—if you are into speed, the unusual and have an extra 50K to spend, then the Campagna T-Rex might be for you. Otherwise, you can join the club of people who dream of having such a machine in their garage too.

We invite you to stick around and check out our other juicy stories under the blog and reviews pages. Also be sure to check out the photo gallery for cool pictures of small cars on the market.