THE first Tesla Cyberbeast to be offered at public auction is now on sale, giving fans a chance to skip the monthslong wait anticipated for the top-of-the-line version of the electric truck.
Sotheby’s Motorsport, an auction platform formed in 2023, will sell the Cyberbeast at no reserve in an online sale that ends Apr 9. No reserve means the vehicle can sell at any price, rather than any price above a pre-decided sum set by the seller. The company was formed in a partnership by Sotheby’s and DuPont Registry Group, a company that sells insurance and produces automotive events, among other ventures.
Auction organisers are expecting the Cyberbeast to easily surpass the US$99,990 estimated manufacturer’s suggested retail price currently listed on Tesla’s website. “As we all know, with no reserve anything can happen,” Colleen Cash, president of Sotheby’s Motorsport, said via text. Bidding on the vehicle will start at US$75,000.
The Cybertruck has been a popular item for speculative buyers to flip since it began deliveries in November 2023. Alex Hirschi, the woman behind Supercar Blondie who launched an online auction platform of her own on Apr 2, listed a Cybertruck among her first lots.
At 845 horsepower, the Cyberbeast version is brawnier than the 600 hp all-wheel-drive Cybertruck currently offered on Tesla’s website, though its range is 20 miles shorter. It’s also more expensive than its US$79,990 sibling and more rare. (A 90-minute stroll around Beverly Hills on Mar 30 resulted in at least three Cybertruck sightings.)
It’s also faster than the regular Cybertruck. Its 0-to-60 mph sprint time is an estimated 2.6 seconds compared to the standard 4.1 seconds. Tesla lists top speed in the Cyberbeast at 130 mph, compared to 112 mph for the AWD Cybertruck.
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But most of its allure comes from a combination of low supply, high interest and the “eccentric” image of Tesla’s founder, Elon Musk, said Kevin Tynan, a senior automotive analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence, in an email.
“There is a market that can be maximised best in an auction environment when a frenzy is created,” he said.
This is the first test of the resale price of the Cyberbeast variant, as Cybertruck sales cool. In February a used Cybertuck sold for US$244,000 at a Manheim sale in Florida. Subsequent sales in Dallas ended closer to US$190,000.
On Mar 30, Bring a Trailer, the online car auction platform, sold a “Foundation Series” Cybertruck for US$160,000. “Foundation Series” designates the limited-edition vehicles first among production, which cost more than the base versions and include extras denoting them as special.
Sotheby’s lists its 2024 “Foundation Series” Cyberbeast with 843 hp, an AWD drivetrain and 50 miles on the motor. It comes in the standard-issue stainless steel body and black interior. The seller of the vehicle is listed as “ShibaInu,” a tongue-in-cheek reference to the canine symbol for Dogecoin, which Musk has supported. An auction spokesperson declined to identify the seller but confirmed the vehicle is located in the US.
Cash, the Sotheby’s Motorsport president, compared its collectible potential to early Tesla Roadsters, electric hypercars like the Rimac Nevera and the steel-bodied DeLorean DMC-12 that became famous in the 1985 film Back to the Future.
Sale prices of Tesla Roadsters have risen since 2019, with current values on Bring a Trailer hovering around US$100,000 and a high sale of US$220,420 in 2022. When it first appeared in 2008, the Tesla Roadster cost around US$99,000, equivalent to about US$144,000 today.
“I envision that in the next 20 years, encountering a Cyberbeast in the wild will evoke the same sense of nostalgia that spotting a Delorean does today,” Cash says.
Today, Delorean prices vary widely, with marginal value gains. With a new price of roughly US$25,000 when they debuted in 1981, equivalent to about US$88,000 today, they now sell for between US$40,000 and US$60,000 on BAT.
While Sotheby’s sale is the first public auction of its kind for the Cyberbeast, it doesn’t beat buyers who got their truck directly from Tesla.
Shedeur Sanders, the son of NFL Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders, took delivery of his Cyberbeast Mar 31. It was the first Cyberbeast delivered to Colorado, he said. It was unclear at the time of publication how many Tesla has delivered total. BLOOMBERG
