Early Tesla Cybertruck concept designs show edgy was always on the agenda for Elon Musk

A fascinating photo posted by Walter Isaacson, who has just written a biography on Elon Musk that will be released on September 12, has revealed how the Tesla Cybertruck may have looked had a different design direction been taken. Isaacson can be seen in the photo along with Musk and Tesla’s chief designer von Holzhausen as they pore over images taken from numerous popular games and movies, with early Cybertruck designs sneaking in to the left side.

It appears there is a rather eclectic collection of potentially inspiring looks on show for Musk and von Holzhausen to take inspiration from, including stills from RoboCop and a few screenshots taken from Cyberpunk 2077. There are also images of the DeLorean time machine from Back to the Future and the customized Lotus Esprit, “Wet Nellie”, from the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me. Sadly, neither time travel nor submarine conversion are available on the Tesla Cybertruck.

It’s clear Musk and co. wanted something futuristic and angular, and definitely not boring, as explained in a tweet from Tesla investor Sawyer Merritt:

He doesn't like to be bored. He puts up things from movies, from sci-fi, from video games, and everybody is pushing back on him at this meeting. He finally says stop it, we're going to do it. We're going to make it edgy.

With the choice of stainless steel, the Tesla Cybertruck’s exoskeleton becomes edgier and straighter than its curvier competition, which, of course, has given it its unique look. Lovers of the Cybertruck design will be glad Tesla did not go down the road of some of the concepts on show, with some distinctly less edgy examples included. But those who loathe the design may wish the Tesla Cybertruck had been “boring” after all – but then these won’t be the people who end up purchasing one of the trucks anyway.

Buy the Elon Musk biography by Walter Isaacson on Amazon