DMC-12 owner tracked down a Cybertruck prototype and filmed the two vehicles together, revealing some eery similarities
by Chris Chilton
12 hours ago
You’d never come across a Ferrari 308 parked next to a new Ford F-150 or a Lamborghini Silhouette adjacent to a modern Ram 1500 and be moved to remark anything other than how much you’d prefer to be in the truck in a crash. You’d certainly never wonder if the cars and pickups shared DNA. But then there’s nothing ordinary about the Tesla Cybertruck, or the Delorean DMC-12 come to that.
And thanks to the efforts of one DeLorean owner and reddit user (u/BladeBronson) who tracked down a Tesla Cybertruck RC prototype in San Francisco, we’re able to see how the four-decade-old Irish-American sports car looks next to the 2024 electric truck, and the results are wild.
If you didn’t know anything about cars you might assume that both vehicles were from the same automaker. There’s the stainless steel panels, of course, and both cars feature angular bodywork, though the Cybertruck takes that theme to the extreme with its sharp creases and near-horizontal windshield. Having said that, the DMC-12 was the work of Italian design legend Giorgetto Giugiaro, who also penned the original Lotus Esprit, a car that really does look like the Cybertruck, or would if it had ever been offered with a stainless skin.
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Related: The New DeLorean Is Building A Corvette-Based Sports Car
Images: u/BladeBronson
It’s interesting to note that the DeLorean features exotic gullwing doors, but Tesla didn’t bother working them into the Cybertruck’s design package, despite fitting them to the rear of the Model X SUV. The Cybertruck is certainly more arresting than the DMC-12, even with its regular doors, but to our eyes, seeing the Cybertruck next to the work of a recognized design great only underlines how clumsy and amateurish the Tesla’s design is. As McLaren F1 designer Peter Stevens argued, the Cybertruck is wilfully different and will make people stare, but that doesn’t make it worth celebrating any more than having a likeness of your dog’s butthole tattoo’d on your forehead does. Stevens didn’t mention canine buttholes in his original commentary but you just know he was thinking it.
What probably will be worth celebrating is the Cybertruck’s ability to stay with modern mid-engined sports cars in a race from the lights. We’re still waiting to learn what powertrain setups and power outputs Tesla will offer, but we won’t be surprised if the fastest versions get to 60 mph (96 km/h) in less than 3 seconds, given that the 1,020 hp (1,034 PS) Model X Plaid can get there in 2.5.
The DeLorean wasn’t quite so impressive against the clock when it was new. Choked down to a miserable 130 hp (132 PS) by early 1980s emissions equipment, the original DMC-12 needed 3.6 seconds just to reach 30 mph (48 km/h) in Road & Track’s December 1981 test, and took 10.5 seconds to achieve 60 mph. Some DeLorean owners have found a fix for that lethargy, and it’s one that brings the DMC-12 even closer to the Cybertruck: a Tesla electric powertrain swap.