I just saw a Cybertruck the other night, parked here in my neighborhood of Mexico City. Woopty-hoo, you might say. After all, it's not such a big deal. The thing has been out for a while, and thanks to its (un)popularity, user(un)friendliness, and incredible price-performance ratio it has become the subject of various memes and jokes. This is why, along with being allegedly such a hot-shot of a vehicle, I would not pretend to be so excited, by making posts about it... if it was not parked between such interesting neighbors.
It's All About the Contrast
The car behind this futuristic Tesla ride is none other than what may be the most classic of all classic cars out there: the old Volkswagen Beetle. The OG of the "people's car" was conceived close to a century ago, and after being used for Nazi propaganda it managed to become a highly successful mass produced car, symbolizing anything from the German economic miracle to hippie freedom, and even after going out of production in Germany new beetles continued rolling off the conveyor belt at the VW works in Puebla until the end of the 20th century. This particular specimen had been obviously a taxi in Acapulco, but for the last few years I've seen it parked in our neighborhood, apparently still running, as you'd expect from a proper beetlebug.
The car parked in front of the Cybertruck was similarly a curious find. If you've been following my blog, you'll notice that it is the same Renault 12 I posted about a month ago. Correction: it is not exactly the same car, just the same model. This one is completely mat, black, without any decoration or lettering or logos, just pure body. In fact, it's probably as cool as one could get. Very, very awesome!
Don't get me wrong, even though both the Renault 12 and the Beetle are well represented in Mexico, they are by far not common. In fact, I don't remember ever seeing this particular Renault at all, though the Baby Taxy from Acapulco I know is totally local. While neither of these cars I'd consider worthy to post about on their own, standing in this particular line-up they suddenly offer a highly interesting contrast between the past (that has proved to work) and the future (doubtful if it ever will be).
Shooting the Cybertruck
Have you ever stopped to take a pic of a Cybertruck? I have no idea of this car's capabilities (whether hidden or overt), but as soon as I pointed my phone camera at it, it suddenly flashed its headlights at me. Wow, it noticed it was being photographed! What else it did I can only speculate about. Did it take a pic of me too, posting it online, maybe along with who knows what consequences? Or was it just a friendly wink, letting me know that it knows...?
Anyway, now that I'm looking at my photos, I must say, my camera has taken much better pics before, even at night. I don't remember the street being this hazy. Could this be maybe another hidden effect of the Cybertruck? Since its windows didn't prove to be smash-proof, it's now trying to compensate for it by messing with the cameras that try to capture it? Or maybe I'm just being paranoid, and should get a new phone. I know, the thing is more than six years old. And unlike cars, old cell phones don't make good classics. Though in this regard, I'd say the Cybertruck is more like a phone than a normal car...