The Trihawk was originally envisioned by Lou Richards, and further design and development was accomplished by a core group including Bob McKee, David Stollery, Dick Kleber and Bill Mozon. The Trihawk was first manufactured in 1982 by Design Lab, Inc. at a facility in Mokena, Illinois. After completing a preproduction run of 10-12 units, manufacturing and sales were moved to a new facility in Dana Point, California under the new moniker of Hawk Vehicles, Inc. where full production began in 1983. Production ceased at the end of 1985, after company interests were purchased by Harley Davidson. Between 90 and 100 units were produced.

The vehicle is powered by a 4-cylinder, air cooled 1,299cc boxer engine that drives the front wheels. The engine and transmission came from the Citroën GSA. Suspension components were utilised from the Renault R5 (Le Car) whereas Honda was the choice for the dash board instruments. Due to it's extremely low centre of gravity and wide front track, the Trihawk was capable of attaining upwards of 1G force during skid pad testing, matching the Corvette and Countach of the day.