Perhaps one of the most controversial parts of the Tesla Cybertruck is the remarkable simplicity, perhaps even crudeness, of the design—all flat panels, no complex curves or stampings. This could also prove to be one of the design’s best qualities, at least from the perspective of eager bootleggers who want to throw together quick knockoffs of the electric truck, much like one industrious fabricator in Moscow seems to have done.
The samizdat Cybertruck was spotted driving along a Moscow street, where video of it was uploaded to Twitter:
The caption reads “How do you like that, Elon Musk? Tesla has not yet started selling Cybertruck, but in Moscow they have already assembled their own.” The proportions of the ersatz Cybertruck are a bit shorter and taller than the actual one, and the rear wheel arch is rectangular instead of half a hexagon, but overall it’s a remarkably good likeness.
The lighting is especially well done, with the full-width thin taillamp looking bright and well-diffused,
I suspect it’s based on the chassis of a common (for Russia) combustion vehicle—maybe an old Lada or something? Perhaps a body-on-frame vehicle, to make dropping the Cybertruck body on easier? I can’t really tell for sure from the video.
The rear appears to be enclosed, like the Cybertruck with its cover in place, and I suspect on the knockoff it’s not removable.
Still, that hardly matters. This is a very good, quick job someone did, and a pretty masterful job of physical-world trolling of Elon, who periodically needs a good troll like this.
If you see this thing while driving around Moscow, though, be careful—with no rear window or side mirrors, the visibility in this thing has to be terrible, so keep your distance.
(thanks, Bakhti!)