A vehicle suspiciously similar in design to Elon Musk’s newly-announced Cybertruck was spotted in the Moscow satellite city of Khimki. A video of the vehicle was uploaded to Instagram by user @sukhotin.m.
The vehicle, which bears a license plate of Russia’s Kaluga Region, is, in fact, a replica based on the VAZ 2109 chassis – an obsolete, out of production, but still popular Soviet sedan whose 1980s design, devoid of curves, could compete with Tesla’s angular Cybertruck, which looks straight out of a 1980s sci fi movie.
The replica was built by a group of bloggers associated with a car-focused YouTube channel called ‘Pushka Garazh,’ which enjoys some 333,000 subscribers.
One blogger, Aleksandr Trubnikov, confirmed in an interview that the group built the Cybertruck replica and that it is the same vehicle seen on the Instagram post. On Thursday, Trubnikov uploaded a photo of himself and the vehicle, vowing to publish a video in several days.
Elon Musk presented the Tesla Cybertruck on 22 November. During the presentation, the vehicle famously failed a window strength test, when a purportedly armored window cracked after Tesla’s chief design engineer threw a metal ball at it.
The stunt reportedly cost Tesla 6 percent in its share price, and $770 million to Musk’s own personal fortune, according to a Forbes Russia report. At least 250,000 have plunked down the refundable $100 to preorder the Cybertruck, according to Business Insider. The all-electric truck is scheduled to enter mass production in 2021.