The Tesla Cybertruck seems to be a revolutionary pickup at first glance. It features a unibody construction, a tri-motor drivetrain option, and a really awkward polygonal exterior design. The Cybertruck looks more like a UFO than a truck, but it's not the first electric vehicle to feature this shape. In 1967, American Motors Corporation (AMC) unveiled the Amitron concept, a subcompact car that looks like a miniature Cybertruck.

A tiny EV ahead of its time

As the industry grew bigger in the 1960s, carmakers started toying with the idea even more, but most projects didn't make it past the concept phase. One such vehicle is the AMC Amitron, a concept cars unveiled in 1967.

Developed by AMC, which was eventually purchased by Chrysler in the 1960s, in cooperation with Gutton Industries, the Amitron was a small hatchback that measured only 85 inches in length and tipped the scales at just 1,100 pounds.

A strange appearance for the 1960s, when muscle cars and gas-guzzlers dominated the market, the Amitron also featured a relatively strange design. Designed to minimize power loss through reducing rolling and drag resistance, the Amitron ended up shaped like a polygon, a design now revived by the Tesla Cybertruck. The angular design was also ahead of its time, as carmakers didn't adopt wedge-shaped bodies for production cars until the early 1970s. The traditional doors were replaced by a canopy-style roof that opened up to provide seating for three people.

The concept resurfaced with minor modifications in 1977 as the AMC Electron, but it no longer had a drivetrain.

A similar design more than 50 years later

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But it's safe to assume that Tesla shaped the front end like this for the same reasons that AMC did back in 1967. Aerodynamics and drag resistance are critical for electric cars, which need a low coefficient in order to provide a higher range. With the Cybertruck's range rated at up to 500 miles, it's safe to say that EV technology has improved dramatically since the 1960s.