The first-ever Tesla Model S to roll off the production line at the factory in Fremont, California, has just made it to the Petersen Automotive Museum. The owner donated the first Model S ever to the museum in Los Angeles.
The Tesla Model S is the car that started the S3XY lineup, with the Model 3, Model X, and Model Y following in its footsteps. Back in 2012, Tesla was only able to build 15-20 cars per week. The carmaker eventually ramped up production, hitting 1,000 cars per week in 2015. Now, the owner of the first-ever Model S produced has donated his all-wheel drive Tesla Model S P85 and shared photos of the event together with a photograph showing him and Elon Musk in a Model S during his first test drive.
Steve Jurvetson also shared several quotes from publications that, back in 2012, wrote stories about the electric sedan. Jurvetson is an entrepreneur and early Tesla investor.
"The Model S could become the Model T of Ann approaching petroleum-free era," The New York Times predicted 11 years ago. Meanwhile, The Street referred to the car as "an eye-opener like the automotive world has never seen in its entire history."
Furthermore, Road & Track noted back then: "The Model S isn't just the most important car of the year. It’s the most important car America has made in an entire lifetime." Rivals such as the Mercedes EQS, the BMW i5, or the Lucid Sapphire took quite a long time to hit the market and play the part of the opponents in the segment of luxury electric sedans.
Photo: Steve Jurvetson | X
Jurvetson said that he always knew that his car, the first of its kind produced by Tesla, would end up in a museum. From now on, the electric sedan will reside at the Petersen Automotive Museum, which boasts of having the most comprehensive collection of Tesla vehicles ever curated.
A Tesla Cybertruck prototype from 2019, the year it was unveiled, is in there, and, over the years, the museum might as well receive the first-ever mass production pickup truck bearing the Tesla badge. The model rolled off the assembly line back in July, when the carmaker confirmed it began production of the model at the Giga Texas.
Jurvetson donated other Teslas as well. His Tesla Roadster and Model S are also on display at the museum in LA.
Back in 2012, Jurvetson managed to take the first production Model S home after spotting the pricing for the vehicle on an internal Tesla document. He wrote a check for the amount written on it, ignoring the fact that CEO Elon Musk had already announced the company had stopped taking reservations for the EV. With massive demand from all across America, Tesla simply could not keep up the pace.
The price Jurvetson paid for the car is undisclosed, but the entry-level Model S, equipped with the 40 kWh battery pack, was $57,400. At the opposite end of the range, the Performance version starts at $84,400.
Making history never looked so good.
I always knew the first Model S would end up in a museum, and I am happy to say it now resides in the Petersen Museum, along with the other early Teslas I donated to them.
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