Original Tesla Roadster! First time seeing one

Whoever owns it bought it pretty recently! California has sequential plates and 9SXXXXX is within the past few months.

Cool!

They are beautiful cars

Looks like a Fiero

I'm sure I could Google it, but how many roadsters are there? I'm always hyped when I see one but I don't actually know how rare they are

Their most stylish model was, and likely always will be, an electrified Lotus 👌

Nice little toy! 

It was built off the Lotus Elise chassis

2,450 cars sold in over 30 countries.

I got to test drive one in 2010 and hooked me since!

Whenever I see a roadster I think of this https://i.imgur.com/bEjAFcR.jpeg

This brings back memories of my bad ass neighbor in the 80s who had a Lotus Esprit. He would take us to school some times and all the kids would flock around it and youd be 100% cooler for a week. That Esprit had serious Countache level supercar styling. I now sometimes take my kids to school in my 5.0 and rev the V8 and the other kids still love it.

I remember sitting on a bus on the way home from work in 2008-2009, looking out the window and seeing one. Core memory.

I used to see one every day as there was a guy in the next building from where I worked that had one.

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Lotus Elise

Still remember that he license plate on the first one I ever saw in Orange County ca, LOLOIL. Probably around 2011, had no idea what it was then.

Same.

Its a funny story but the ultralight Elise was designed with no doors, you just hopped in. They were built in York, England. Elon wanted the Elise to be like his Mclaren (which he crashed) so reengineered the car with doors adding a lot of weight. So the Elise got Americanized and became just yet another overweight 'sports' car. This time with batteries which added even more. weight

I haven’t seen one in years…

Looks like Irvine 😆

Looks like the exact one that just sold on Bring a Trailer

I agree the Elise is a beautiful car

They’re built in Hethal, Norfolk. Source: I live a 5 minute drive away

Yes sorry that is correct. I remember blasting around the test track at Hethal in Turbo Esprit back in the 1990's. You can see the factory and test track here: [https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fd3e1m60ptf1oym.cloudfront.net%2Fd78aeb12-3093-4493-9d44-90d0cd333ba4%2FLotusFactoryNorfolkjc20146\_uxga.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=04f00d065eccf2b553d51c54cbc2c9e3c9d795dc8515aabc59690ec63750bdfb](https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fd3e1m60ptf1oym.cloudfront.net%2Fd78aeb12-3093-4493-9d44-90d0cd333ba4%2FLotusFactoryNorfolkjc20146_uxga.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=04f00d065eccf2b553d51c54cbc2c9e3c9d795dc8515aabc59690ec63750bdfb)

So clearly not an Elise if you put them next to each other. Both are beauts. **Edit: Redditors, I get it**, it's built off an Elise so they are similar. I'm talking from an exterior design POV. Put these two next to each other and they are brothers, not the twins some say they are. The roadster is even half a foot longer because a certain CEO couldn't fit in the car and the only exterior part number in common between the two is the windshield.

Fisher Toy company made the body panels on the Fiero...fun fact.

Still runs!?

Not surprised either - definitely Irvine lol.

I don’t know, the ~~Mazda 3~~ Model 3 also looks good!

Old school! 👍😎

My last car was a 2009 mazda 3 lmao. It has similarities in appearance to my model 3 😂

So kinda like the cyber truck panels

I saw one shot into space once

Is it mandatory in California to have plates on both sides?

Looks like Woodbury town center lol

I respect mazdas but comparing it with a model 3?

It’s literally an Elise that Tesla then converted to their car using their parts. My best friend was the president of the Lotus club locally and had one and also an Exige. My other friend had an Elise at the same time. It’s the same car with a bodykit.

Driving the original Tesla Roadster https://youtu.be/F-lohS2YfyM

I was mostly just kidding, as Franz was previously head of design at Mazda before he moved to Tesla. Though I have seen certain model years of Mazda 3 and 6 and thought they reminded me a lot of Tesla models 3&S.

A not insignificant portion of them were involved in incidents that left them inoperable, though. I thought I’d read years ago that only about half were thought to still be in working condition. By which I just mean they’re somewhat old now and have been in crashes, rusted, whatever.

Fisher makes stainless steel toys?

They’re talking about the look… what are you even blabbering about. You’re fairly wrong too lol

Yes. But I don’t do it. It’s a 25 dollar fine that you might see once or twice a year

I remember sitting in these at the showrooms.

Just like the Model S is a Fisker 😂

I saw one of those in Elk Grove California back in 2012.

Isn’t that the same model that was shot into space?

But how is it possible if it's the original Tesla Roadster?

Used?

I'm 99% sure it's Woodbury. Low key I hate the fact that I know that

yes

They bought it from someone or recently got it back on the road

Lmao I have no clue how plates work. So you get a new plate for that?

You might want to look into this before condemning it. The parent comment is correct. Although the glider might have been built, on contract, by Lotus; the car is quite different than an Elise. Different wheelbase, different width, different chassis and alot more CF used in the Roadster. Similar interior which might be what confuses people. The car is almost 700 lb heavier, there's no way they're going to slap that into a Elise chassis.

If the car hasn’t been registered in more than 6 months in California I believe the way it works there is that you get a new plate because you’re basically re-registering a vehicle (in their terms, registering a vehicle for “the first time”) I remember reading a book that talked about a celebrity that lived in California who used to buy a new car every 6 months to avoid having to fully register them. It is fairly common I think there.

You should Google how the original Tesla Roadster was made.

It so clearly *is* an Elise

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Steve Jobs! Got a new identical leased vehicle every 6 months so he wouldn't need a license plate

Yep! That’s the one haha

You literally agreed with me. I think you’re all confused. I’m not saying it’s exactly an Elise lol, quite the opposite

It is

You still haven’t seen the original roadster. Post again when you do

nice toy

Wow! I didn’t even know those existed!!!

I remember California was going to run out of plate numbers soon, what's the next sequence after 9?

And it varies by state, here(TX) you have a choice whether to keep the plate or get a new one. It used to be 7 years, but now you can keep them forever.

True, just saying it was a CA thing for this case due to it being a California plate

I lived in San Carlos, CA from 2004 to 2011, just a bit north of Tesla's original showroom and development space. At that time, I had a C6 Corvette. I remember seeing these roadsters out for testing (before they went on sale) and anytime I was next to one at a stop light the driver wanted to race. Given both the traffic and frequent police presence on the main road (El Camino), I never participated.

It’ll flip. Instead of #XXX### it’ll become ###XXX#

No power steering

Really wish they would do an updated version with modern Tesla tech. I'll never have a supercar version but a regular updated version of this as a 2 seater $50-70k would rock.

Even all the colours offered by Tesla are reminiscent of Mazda's.

About 2 years ago, I’ve seen three at the service center. They are legendary, but apparently they need legendary maintenance too.. I’ve never seen one on the road though 👀

And worse .. No Cuphead and no farts 😬

There’s a new roadster on it way Not for 50k obviously.. But sure, ‘would be fun’ (chances are about zero though)

Maybe we can ask mister Fisker in 4 years, or.. we could collectively buy Lotus and give it a shot 🤓