As a European, this article has explained a lot of things about US car culture to me that never made any sense… including the Cybertruck. The author has a lovely way of taking you by the hand and leading you through the history of America’s cars not as evolving pieces of technology, but as an expression of their respective time’s culture.

Musk’s emphasis that the Cybertruck is an “armored personnel carrier from the future” is likely driven by his belief that “the apocalypse could come along at any moment.”

[The Cybertruck] is the perfect vehicle for a culture where everyone is afraid of their neighbor. Musk’s bulletproof wedge-shaped machine is the physical manifestation of America’s fear, and whether it is good or bad, we deserve it.