Does a viral image authentically show a "1930 Russian/Soviet 'Tarantaika'"? No, that's not true: The picture was likely AI generated. The same picture was previously falsely claimed to have been a "restored 1875 chuckwagon" and Nicola Tesla's invention.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on Facebook on May 26, 2025. It opened:
1930 Russian/Soviet 'Tarantaika' (Boneshaker).
The entry included a photo of what looked like a wooden version of the Tesla Cybertruck.
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot by Lead Stories)
The entry implied that it was an authentic photo depicting a means of transportation that once existed in the Soviet Union.
A reverse image search showed that the picture has been circulating online for nearly a year.
Lead Stories tested one of the earliest, high-resolution versions of it (archived here) published on June 24, 2024, in a group for AI enthusiasts on Facebook.
Two AI detectors -- Hive Moderation and InVid (archived here) -- suggested that the image could be AI generated:
(Source: Hive Moderation screenshot by Lead Stories)
(Source: InVid screenshot by Lead Stories)
A manual examination of the image showed inconsistencies that are generally characteristic of AI. For example, for no apparent reason, the front wheels of the "vehicle" had different designs: For no apparent reason, one of them was solid while another displayed gaps. Then, what looked like a star inside a front wheel turned out to be asymmetrical and strangely missed one ray. The ornament on the metal rim encircling the "star" lacked consistency, too: Some elements were holes, some were reminiscent of small spirals, and some others could have been mistaken for letters from afar while they were not alphabetic symbols.
(Source: Facebook screenshot by Lead Stories)
The "1930 Russian/Soviet 'Tarantaika' (Boneshaker)" mentioned in the caption of the post reviewed in this fact check was misspelled "tarataika," a two-wheeled carriage with a folding top used in the Russian Empire. It is a common mistake to incorrectly include the letter "N" in it (as in the post). A variation appears to merge "tarataika" with "tarantass" (archived here), a larger, low four-wheeled carriage from the 19th century, which appears to be a better-known word due to the fact that it was used in the title of that era's social novel by Vladimir Sollogub (archived here). In contemporary Russian, the word "tarantass" is still occasionally used to metaphorically describe an old, uncomfortable car (archived here).
Earlier, the same image of what looked like a wooden Tesla Cybertruck was shared on social media under captions invoking a "restored 1875 chuckwagon" or the car claimed to have been invented by electrical engineer Nikola Tesla (1856-1943).
Snopes and Fact Crescendo Cambodia published respective fact checks reviewing those claims.
Read here
Other Lead Stories articles discussing AI generated content are here.
