YouTuber David Dobrik has (perhaps) gained a new fan in Tesla founder and CEO of SpaceX Elon Musk. Wildly known for his wild, celebrity-dense, 4-minute-and-20-second vlogs, Dobrik has grown beyond web-famous. And in his most recent vlog, the 23-year-old tried a ridiculous “flying Tesla challenge.”
Dobrik was motivated by watching two Instagram stars, josh_ofthe_jungle and nickpasquale1919, who’ve done several tricks on motorbikes.
Dobrik, however, did not perform the stunt himself; he offered up his own beloved Tesla Model X to the two Instagrammers. The pair sent the vehicle airborne via the natural cresting of a nearby hilly road. The stunt made the video go viral and quickly amassed over 8 million views recently.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B74Va89pxgq/
https://www.instagram.com/p/B72cdQMpcnZ/
The YouTube star posted the video on Twitter, and Musk himself responded with only a single exclamation point. Dobrik, with usual wit, replied: “Does this mean my warranty is canceled?”
Musk’s response may perhaps be in connection to his long-standing conviction that a flying or hovering car—perhaps a hyper-futuristic next-gen version of his upcoming Tesla Roadster—is possible, suggesting it as far back in 2017 and again in 2018.
SpaceX option package for new Tesla Roadster will include ~10 small rocket thrusters arranged seamlessly around car. These rocket engines dramatically improve acceleration, top speed, braking & cornering. Maybe they will even allow a Tesla to fly …
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 9, 2018
Then, again last year, appearing to be serious about the endeavor.
The new Roadster will actually do something like this https://t.co/fIsTAYa4x8
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 9, 2019
I’m not. Will use SpaceX cold gas thruster system with ultra high pressure air in a composite over-wrapped pressure vessel in place of the 2 rear seats.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 9, 2019
It’s a nice thought, and there are some significant challenges, but for now, we’ll have to settle for people jumping Model S cars over hills.
Here’s Dobrik’s entire, wide-ranging vlog, which includes the stunt:
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