- A viral video from Pakistan shows a custom-built Tesla Cybertruck replica.
- Someone paid an engineer around $11k to create the one-off mini truck.
- The mini Cybertruck, though smaller than the original, still has a convincing look.
The Tesla Cybertruck has received media coverage around the globe since Elon Musk first unveiled the concept in 2019, but unless you live in North America it’s difficult to get your hands on one and legally drive it on the road. So a couple of Pakistani engineers built a replica, though we use that term in a very loose sense.
Created on behalf of an unnamed customer, the fake Cybertruck reportedly cost 3 million rupees, which equates to $10,800 in US currency. That makes it around $70,000 cheaper than a real entry-level, single-motor Cybertruck in the US.
Related: This Fake Tesla Cybertruck From India Is One Of The Best Replicas Yet
But the price isn’t the only thing that’s smaller about this Tesla tribute. The Pakistani version is tiny in comparison, being shorter, narrower and much lower to the ground than the real thing. And those squished dimensions make the Cybertruck’s already weird triangular profile look truly bizarre. From the side it resembles a metal tool shed, or a summer house with metal cladding.
In some respects though, it looks pretty convincing. It’s got the front and rear LED light strips, the black, boxy arch extensions and though the bed cover flips up, rather than retracts, it gives a similar visual effect in its closed position.
Tesla launched in Pakistan 😂 pic.twitter.com/wUPGi4QlQj
— Frontalforce 🇮🇳 (@FrontalForce) January 21, 2025
We don’t know what donor vehicle metal fabricator Wali Muhammad and his engineering collaborator Saad used, though glimpses of rear leaf springs in the video tell us it did at least start life as a pickup. And you can bet that there’s an ICE motor hiding under the silvery skin, and not an electric powertrain.
It’s easy for those of us in the West to ridicule this kind of build. It must be not that great to drive, that huge windshield must be a nightmare on a sunny day, and though $11k isn’t a huge sum of money to us, it probably is in Pakistan. But you can’t help but admire the ingenuity and determination of these Asian homages to supercars and other desirable Western cars that we see every year on the internet.
One of the most prolific of those Asian builders is the man behind YouTube channel Nhet TV, who has built replica Ferraris, Bugattis and Paganis from scratch. You check them out here.
