Elon Musk has been making some serious headlines lately, though they've largely been positive thanks to the successful launch of the Crew Dragon spaceship and bringing a Cybertruck for a test drive with Jay Leno. The near future for Musk's companies could be bright, as Tesla's factories reopen and deliveries begin of both the highly-anticipated Roadster and Cybertruck models—that is, if he can manage to keep his mouth shut (and fingers from tweeting too much). Perhaps the second-gen Roadster's arrival can explain the fact that a first-gen example has popped up for sale on the auction website Bring a Trailer.
The Original
Tesla's first car was built with some help from Lotus, which explains the exterior design and tiny size. The car in question here is a "1.5-gen" example built for the 2008 model year with a 53-kilowatt-hour battery that powers a three-phase electric induction motor. Output was rated at the equivalent of 248 horsepower and 200 lb-ft of torque, which is routed to the rear wheels through a single-speed transmission.
Those numbers might not sound like much compared to Tesla's current world-beating super sedans and SUVs, but keep in mind that an aluminum tub shared with the Lotus Elise and carbon fiber body panels kept the original roadster's curb weight around 2,800 pounds (the Model S, meanwhile, weighs just shy of 5,000 pounds).
Simple And Futuristic
The car in question is finished in the fittingly named Electric Blue paint over gray leather on the interior, which looks downright spartan compared to Tesla's touchscreen-heavy interiors today. It has driven an impressive 61,000 miles over the years, and features include a removable roof panel and air conditioning. Bidding currently sits at $35,000 with seven days to go until the final gavel.
Source: Bring a Trailer