Entries in Runaway (1)

Monday
Oct252010

Kanye West's Eastern Bloc Supercar

In case you missed it, rapper Kanye West premiered his new short film called "Runaway" on Sunday night on MTV.  The film might be the most self-indulgent, incomprehensible reel of trite eye candy since Matthew Barney's last movie. However, it opens with a very strange car rolling through the darkened countryside.  As most of you would have done, I immediately asked myself "What the hell is that car??" I thought it was perhaps a Koenigsegg or some other small volume supercar, but when I saw the badge on the trunk, I was deeply surprised. 

Apparently, it is a Tatra MTX V8 - a car so obscure it sent me scrambling for wikipedia. Now many of you might be familiar with the illustrious Czech automaker Tatra from its innovative prewar vehicles. But apprently during the communist period, there was a company called MTX that actually built sports cars in Czechoslovakia going back to the early 70s! And once communism ended, they produced only 4 examples of the MTX V8 using the Tatra badge, one of which is featured in Kanye's art film.  The lines are stock 90s supercar in the mold of the Acura NSX, but I must confess the parts-bin interior is sort of cool. It even seems to have a tape deck!

Click here for the full gallery of screen grabs.

Click here if you want to be subjected to 34 incomprehensible minutes of Kanye's "singular artistic genius." On the bright side there is a scantily clad hot bird-woman throughout most of this derivative, superficial ego trip.