Tesla CEO Elon Musk has expressed his approval, in Russian, for an innovative automobile design: a Soviet-era car which gives the appearance of driving backwards.
Breathing fresh life into a long-lost meme, Russian television network NTV tweeted a video of the modified “Zhiguli” at Musk, asking “How do you like that, @elonmusk?"
The electric car messiah was bombarded by similar, tongue-in-cheek queries last year after famous arms manufacturer Kalashnikov announced it was designing an electric automobile of its own.
Musk, it seems, was impressed by the short clip, which shows the remodeled Soviet car – whose body has been flipped, giving the appearance that it’s driving backward – cruising down the road.
“Awesome,” Musk declared in Russian.
His response triggered an avalanche of jokes – and confusion.
Musk’s Russian fans, meanwhile, lavished the entrepreneur with praise.
According to NTV, the car’s 18-year-old owner has run into trouble with local traffic police, who apparently were less enthusiastic about the creative automobile design.
Subscribe to RT newsletter to get stories the mainstream media won’t tell you.