Looking at the design of the polarizing marketing sensation/flop that is the Tesla Cybertruck and cross-referencing it with the memes of the interwebs, you’ll discover a common consensus: a toddler designed it. That’s not to say the designers are uneducated, drool-sipping thumb-hands because they certainly are not. However, the Blade Runner revival in the real world is far less cool than in the movie. Elon Musk may have OK’d this triangular cookie form in 2019, but the Top Gear trio actually perfected this style of car design long ago.
Back in season 14, episode 2 of Top Gear , Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May built their own electric car using second-hand parts from very opposite vehicles. The complete chassis was donated from a TVR sports car while the powertrain was plucked from an electric milk delivery truck. Hammond and May, respectively, handled the first two tasks while Jeremy was in charge of the design. After emerging from his “mood room” of creative inspirations, the masterpiece was revealed. Let’s just say that it was the car’s imperfection that made it perfect. The aluminum, plywood, warehouse storage joiners, and fence hinges all paired with not a single curve in the design—beating Tesla to the angular punch a decade ago.
May had elected to use only two batteries to save weight. It was a sacrifice that proved too great because the car lacked speed of any kind. It was so bad to drive on the roads that after getting stranded, which caused a traffic jam of epic proportions in Oxford, they didn’t put a terrible amount of effort to save it from rolling off a hill and crashing into a tree. It was back to the drawing board at the Top Gear Technology Center, where they amended their shortcomings and prepared the car for rigorous safety testing that all cars sold in the U.K. must pass.
Amazingly, it passed all of the tests with flying colors (*wink*wink*) and they somehow didn’t die in the process. We won’t spoil the whole story here, so go watch the episode on the MotorTrend App to see if their creation wins a drag race against a slew of other alternately powered vehicles. Who do you think did it better, Top Gear or Tesla? Let us know: shoot an email to HOTROD@HotRod.com.
Featured photo design: Ryan Lugo
Cybertruck photos: Courtesy of Tesla