Call it "Flashback Sunday" or blame it on Earth Day rapidly approaching, but for some reason, Jay Leno just released a video featuring Elon Musk and a Tesla Roadster. No, this isn't some all-new Leno exclusive about the forthcoming Roadster—he already did that, obviously—this clip hails straight back from 2008, when the first-generation Roadster was a brand-new Lotus lookalike trying to take the automotive world by storm.
Blast From The Past
Jay Leno's Garage has been a running stream of dream cars for gearheads the world over, revealing the quirks and fantasies of a comedian who takes his automobile history very seriously. And in all seriousness, there's a good chance that the original Tesla Roadster will go down with the likes of the Model T—at least, if Musk can keep his tweets under control for the next few years.
No Laugh Track Here
Leno made his money hosting late-night comedy shows, though he apparently spends most of it on cars and can be frequently caught making the rounds at LA car shows driving everything from modern supercars to vintage Duesenbergs and custom tank cars. He began releasing the inside look at his collection known as Jay Leno's Garage back in 2014, though the footage of him and Musk in a first-gen Roadster was either backdated by "Photoshopping" both men to look younger (though Elon's hairline is suspicious) or Jay had a team following him as early as 2008.
First Is The Worst
The car in the blurry clip is actually the very first Tesla Roadster ever built for a customer, with 500 miles on the odometer. Things have come a long way at Tesla, as this car was powered by 6,831 individual batteries that took three-and-a-half hours to charge. In a more recent Tesla Roadster, meanwhile, Leno teased out of Tesla's head of design, Franz von Holzhausen, that the new model has a ridiculous 10,000 Nm of torque—at the wheels.
Source: Youtube