It all started with the Tesla Roadster. It was Tesla's first model ever and came to revolutionize mobility. It was electric, it had a jaw-dropping range for its era, and it was insanely fast. Now we have one of those ground-breaking roadsters right here.
This first-generation 2008 Tesla Roadster is number 77 of the first 100 Tesla Roadster manufactured and has been in the possession of the Petersen Automotive Museum since 2017. One of the first of its kind, it was 2008 and the Signature One Hundred Edition had just come out.
The car sports a 1.5-series battery pack, installed in 2023, which powered a three-phase 375-Volt AC induction motor, linked to a BorgWarner-sourced single-speed transmission. The electric motor generates 248 horsepower and a torque starting at 180 lb-ft (240 Nm), depending on the version, delivered to the rear wheels.
Those are enough for a run from 0 to 60 mph (0-97 kph) in 3.7 seconds and a top speed electronically limited to 125 mph (201 kph). Not bad for a roadster built 15 years ago. Top Gear's Jimmy Clarkson tagged it as “biblically quick,” while The Los Angeles Times referred to it as “stiff, well sorted, highly focused, dead sexy, and eerily quick.”
Tesla kept the Roadster in production until 2012 and built 2,450 examples, sold in over 30 countries. Most of them went to Europe and Asia during the fourth quarter of the last production year. Right-hand drive examples went into production starting in 2010 and were delivered to customers in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The model was actually built in the UK, at the Hethel Plant.
The model is built around the aluminum tub frame from the Lotus Elise. The Tesla Roadster and the Lotus Elise also share the windshield and windshield frame, but the Tesla came with a 2-inch longer wheelbase than the Lotus.
Photo: Bring a Trailer
The Roadster is finished in Signature Green over a black and beige upholstery. A carbon fiber hardtop in the color body, a removable panel are part of the plan. LED taillights and integrated spoiler round up the rear.
There are heated sport seats on board, together with carbon-fiber trim, a CD stereo, and air conditioning, plus cruise control. The steering wheel is wrapped in leather and there are a 150-mph speedometer and a tachometer with a 13,000-rmp redline. The center console integrates a multifunction LCD screen.
It rides on silver-finished 16-inch aluminum wheels at the front and 17-inch wheels at the rear, with Yokohama Nova tires. To make driving easier, Tesla equipped the car with traction control, front and rear independent wishbone suspension with co-axial coil springs, and telescopic dampers. Four-wheel discs with regenerative braking system provide the stopping power.
The digital odometer only shows 5,000 miles, so the next owner will get an old, practically new car. Only 10 of them were added under the current ownership. The low-mileage example goes with the 110- and 220-volt charging cables, the owner’s manual, a clean Carfax report, and a clean California title in the seller’s name.
The only visible fault is a scratch on the rear bumper cover. The Roadster is listed on Bring a Trailer. With a day left to the end of the auction, bidding reached $175,000 and seemed to be counting. It is, after all, one of the last chances to buy a low-mileage example, in an almost impeccable condition, except for that scratch. The original price of the Roadster started at $80,000.
Tesla has been working for years on a new-generation Roadster. But you know Tesla. They have an issue with meeting deadlines. But when they finally do, they outsell every competitor in the segment. So it is your call if you would rather go for something about to turn into a young classic or for the upcoming generation, revealed in 2020 but still waiting to go into production.
The Tesla Roadster ticked so many firsts
The Tesla Roadster came in 2008 as a ground-breaking model, ticking so many firsts for the industry. It was the electric roadster that would revolutionize the automotive sector, the first chapter of the story that we have today, called S3XY: Model S, Model 3, Model X, and Model Y.
It was the first highway-legal, serial-production all-electric car to use lithium-ion battery cells.
It was also the first production electric car that was capable of traveling more than 244 miles (393 kilometers) before it needed to be plugged in again, according to EPA.
On February 6, 2018, it became the first production car to be launched into space, carried by a Falcon Heavy rocket. It was a first-generation roadster that used to belong to Elon Musk himself.
A full-scale mannequin called Starman, dressed in a spacesuit, was behind the steering wheel, while the stereo blasted in a continuous loop, David Bowies’ song 'Space Oddity.' What remains of the Roadster after multiple collisions with asteroids in space remains to be seen.
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