BACKROAD COLUMN
Wow. I did not realise Elon Musk cared much for the car doodles I created in boring Grade 6 maths class back in the ‘Seventies. All straight lines and sharp, angular shapes they were – as was the car design fashion back then – with the odd diagonal line i
The design of the new Tesla Cybertruck could have been superimposed straight from some of those innocent, naïve shapes, right down to the simple, angular wheel arch lines. Yet the Cybertruck caused quite a stir when it was revealed in Los Angeles recently.
Yes, in true Musk fashion it is different and disruptive, and some will even call it futuristic. But is it even remotely attractive? Is there any beauty to be found in those simple, straight lines? I think not. Even so, it seems over 150,000 people have, according to Tesla, put down deposits for one.
Why? It is an interesting question, and the answer probably has more to do with the contemporary mindset and state of our world than with a disregard for appropriate industrial and automotive design. It cares not for aesthetic appeal and is anti-establishment… in a Trumpesque sort of way.
And herein lies the irony. It is compromised, as contrary to Tesla’s core principles of sustainability, Cybertruck is leviathan (it dwarfs a Ford F150) and heavy (built with 3mm stainless steel); not exactly what is needed in a society supposedly desperate to save natural resources.
With Cybertruck Tesla (and Musk) knowingly appeals to the worst in human nature. People like the akward truck just because it is different. It appeals to their self-effacing, egotistical side – like the
Lamborghini LM002 did in the ’eighties, and the Hummer a decade later.
They think it is somehow cool to do the school run in a huge Star Wars prop that resembles a giant doorstop. The fact that the gargantuan bakkie is hypercar quick just adds to this allure – an indication of how callous, self-serving and insensible society has become, driven primarily by ego and status yet embracing the idea of the antiestablishment hero.
Sure, disruptive ideas and bold concepts are necessary. But not when it crushes aesthetics and design sensibilities. Time will tell whether Cybertruck is deemed a classic, a vehicle that changed the face of design. Somehow, I doubt it.