Kanye West Driving Ultra-Rare, Obscure Hypercar In the ‘Runaway’ Music Video Is Classic Ye
Kanye West, or as he prefers now, Ye, has always been a bit of a trendsetter, whether you like it or not. Part of setting trends is repping the cool stuff before its mainstream, which is why Kanye West using the mid-engined, air-cooled MTX Tatra V8, a hypercar from Czechoslovakia, in the music video for “Runaway” is classic Kanye.
What car did Kanye West use in “Runaway”?
The MTX Tatra V8 is a mid-engined hypercar originally produced in 1991 as a collaboration between MTX (originally a Škoda racecar repair shop) and Tatra (creators of the Tatra 97, which was a major inspiration for the VW Bug.) According to Drivetribe, only four examples ever got made out of the 200 orders due to a fire in the shop.
Leave it Kanye to bring an obscure hypercar out of hiding
The MTX Tatra collaboration went mostly forgotten about until Kayen dusted one of them off for the music video for his hit track “Runaway.” While most of us know the song, but maybe fewer of us have actually sat down and watched the full 34-minuet short film that Kanye made for the track.
The film opens with nearly three minutes of apocalyptic scenes while Kanye West drives along a wooded road until he comes upon a fantastic scene. The video encompasses a medley of songs from the album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.
The MTX Tatra V8 was the perfect car for the “Runaway” video
The video goes to support a record filled with evocative imagery. The MTX Tatra was the perfect car to go along with this bizarre, reality-bending music video epic.
This mid-engined hypercar is both very beautiful and also kind of strange-looking. The car’s lines feel reminiscent of the Bugatti EB-110 – an undeniably beautiful car –, but there’s still a tinge of strangeness underneath it all.
The bodywork seems like it’s made of huge panels with tiny openings for windows. Aside from nearly alien bodywork, the powerplant is pretty out of this world, too. The Cezch hypercar is powered by a 4.0 32V engine paired with a five-speed manual gearbox and rear-wheel drive.
According to Dirvetribe, This little V8 made only 305 hp and 365 lb-ft of torque. The Tatra V8 could do 60 mph in 5.7 seconds and topped out at 165 mph. Although this wild-looking hypercar wasn’t the fastest in the game, that doesn’t make it any less perfect for Kanye West to pick for his picture car.
Is the MTX Tatra might just be Kanye West in car form
While Kanye is far from obscure, there is something of a kindred spirit between the bizarre hypercar and the art performance that is Ye. The MTX Tatra V8 is a strange artistic creation that very few people can actually interact with, it’s extremely valuable, and it’s beautiful in a way that makes you keep wanting to look (listen to) at it for longer than you wanted to at first.
