Joe Corrigan
Many have tried, but only one automaker has successfully entered into the stage of mass production in the United States over the last century: Tesla. Chrysler was founded in 1925, for those keeping track. Tesla was the first American automaker to go public since Ford in 1956. Most of that success has been credited to CEO Elon Musk’s force of personality, but overlooked in the discussion, often, is the cars themselves, some of which, like the Model S, were game changers.
Today, America’s electric car manufacturer was worth more in August, 2024 than the next six companies combined, including Toyota, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, and BMW. With more than 1.22 million sold, the Model Y was also the best-selling production car globally in 2023. Not bad for a startup that barely managed to get its first car, the Roadster, into production at all.
These days, the Tesla Roadster is a little forgotten, but it marked a monumental shift in the automotive realm. Indeed, introducing an eye-catching sports car before going mass market is the standard playbook for many a car startup but the key difference with Tesla is that, for once, it actually worked. We’ll consider that the first reason why it’s a future classic. Here are six more.
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It’s based on the Lotus Elise
Image Credit: Kevin Lee The fact that Tesla built the Roadster from the underpinnings of a vehicle that is itself collectible adds to the electric car’s appeal. Lotus has an impressive history, and the Elise stands out as the most popular model ever offered by the British automaker.
Tesla signed a deal in 2005 that paved the way for Lotus to assemble the Roadster’s rolling chassis. Due to the thousand-pound battery pack and vastly different packaging requirements, the Roadster’s wheelbase is about two inches longer than the Elise. Tesla says the resulting package is stiffer than the Elise, which is good since the Roadster weighs around 700 pounds more than the lithe British machine.
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It was inspired by the AC Propulsion tZero
Image Credit: Justin Sullivan Haven’t heard of the tZero? That’s OK, just know it was the vehicle that prompted the development of the Tesla Roadster. The name has many meanings, from its origins as a mathematical symbol to its recent adoption as a cryptocurrency, but the tZero we’re interested in was produced by AC Propulsion, a company that specializes in producing alternating-current motors.
Only three tZeros were built, but those triplets were enough to entice several wealthy businessmen into a belief that electric vehicles were the wave of the future. One of those interested parties was Martin Eberhard, who is perhaps most directly responsible for launching Elon Musk, who represents the biggest reason Tesla is now so successful, similarly took an interest in the tZero.
A tZero is currently on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum in California.
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It was the first production car to use lithium-ion batteries (6,831 of them)
Image Credit: Sean Gallup The tZero used a powertrain that was well ahead of its time in 1996. Still, it was saddled with old-school lead-acid batteries. In 2003 the tZero was fitted with lithium-ion cells that reduced its weight by 500 pounds and improved performance dramatically.
Tesla took the lithium-fueled idea and ran with it. By the time the Roadster launched in 2008, it had a massive battery pack made up of 6,831 individual lithium ion cells similar to what you’d find inside a laptop computer.
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There’s a Tesla Roadster somewhere in space
Image Credit: Handout On February 6, 2018, Elon Musk launched his personal Tesla Roadster into space. In the driver’s seat sits Starman, a dummy dressed in a space suit listening to the David Bowie classic “Space Oddity.” Seriously.
As the first car ever launched out of Earth’s atmosphere, it’s not surprising that there’s a dedicated website tracking the 2010 Roadster’s location in space. As of this writing, Starman and his Tesla chariot have traveled around the sun four times. If the battery were still functional, he’d have heard Bowie belt out his famous jam more than 650,000 times. And you think you get tired of hearing the same songs on the radio every day.
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It ignited a firestorm when it was tested by Top Gear
Image Credit: Vince Bucci Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May will forever be linked to the Tesla Roadster, whether they like it or not. The Roadster was tested in season 12, and the video review was, to put it mildly, controversial.
Clarkson said the Roadster ran out of juice after just 55 miles of heavy use that included plenty of time at a race track. He further claimed it would take 16 hours to recharge, broke down while testing, and suffered a brake failure. The segment included footage of a silver Roadster being pushed into a garage.
Tesla countered that the battery never dropped below 20 percent, that it would recharge in just 3.5 hours, and that the only problem suffered during Top Gear’s testing was a blown fuse. Musk claimed that the video was scripted, leading to a lawsuit that was eventually dismissed. To this day, arguments arise from both sides regarding the review’s legitimacy.
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Less than 2,500 were produced
Image Credit: Justin Sullivan Rarity doesn’t guarantee collectibility, but it doesn’t hurt. Tesla sold around 2,450 Roadsters between 2008 and 2012. Its contract with Lotus was for 2,500 rolling gliders, and not all of those ended up as saleable products.
The Tesla Roadster was launched in 2008 and got its first significant update for the 2010 model year. Less than a year later, another update refined things further and was referred to as Roadster 2.5. In 2015 and 2016, Tesla offered Roadster owners a $29,000 upgrade to Roadster 3.0 specifications, complete with a brand-new battery pack using better cells.
If you’re looking to put a first-generation Tesla Roadster in your garage for safekeeping and want to maximize its potential collectibility, a Roadster 3.0 model might be your best bet. Another option would be to look for one of the earliest 2008 Roadsters, as first-year cars are sometimes more valuable to collectors.
