Remember that time Elon launched his 2008 Tesla Roadster into space? Well, it’s pretty obvious that would easily be classified as the rarest Roadster in existence…but what about here, you know, on this planet? What would the rarest Roadster (or Tesla for that matter) be?
We think we’ve got a good answer for that! May we present to you, the last Roadster ever produced in the USA, signed by Elon himself—and an absolute piece of Tesla history:
The Last Tesla Roadster—A Brief History
This 2011 Tesla Roadster 2.5 Sport—VIN # 1459—rolled off the Menlo Park, California assembly line on October 20, 2011, marking the final production vehicle at that fabled plant.
Shortly after, it was personally signed by Elon Musk himself, and a Certificate of Last Production was issued to the owner—a savvy investor and die-hard Tesla fan.
The car was delivered to the owner in Florida on November 11, 2011 via Tesla’s personal home delivery in an enclose trailer, and has never even seen rain. It’s safe to say that with only 2,800 miles, this vehicle has enjoyed a pampered life!
Gruber Motor Company: Upgrading & Servicing a Vintage Tesla Roadster
A few years (well, OK, a decade) after rolling off the assembly line, this Roadster found itself travelling from Florida to Phoenix, Arizona to the Gruber Motor Company for some important maintenance and upgrade procedures.
You might be thinking—why would a 2,800 mile Roadster need maintenance and upgrades? Well, that’s a great question!
Tesla calls their original Roadster battery the Energy Storage System, or ESS. Because this was early EV battery tech (in terms of what we have now, anyway), some of the battery packs had known issues that came out later on as miles were put on these Roadsters and as they aged.
In order to preemptively fix some of these issues, and resolve other known engineering problems (like the Powertrain Electronics Module or PEM upgrade), Gruber took this car into their shop and got to work making sure everything was in tip-top shape.
And if you’re not familiar with Gruber Motor Company, well—as a Tesla enthusiast reading this blog post, you really should be! They’re the #1 independent Tesla repair shop in the world, and have developed a variety of engineering fixes and upgrades to keep vintage Tesla Roadsters on the road where they belong! No other company (besides Tesla, of course), has done more to preserve the legacy of these fine older Tesla vehicles. You can see more about Gruber’s awesomeness in this video here:
And having completed all of the upgrades and scheduled maintenance, the last USA Tesla Roadster is now available for sale—for the cool price of $1.5 million…
Wait, What?! $1.5 Million—Are You Serious?!
Serious as a SpaceX rocket undergoing a “rapid unscheduled disassembly” (AKA explosion for all you people who don’t speak fluent nerd).
To be clear—we don’t actually set the price—that’s determined by the seller (with a little help from the Gruber Motor Company)—we’re just here to help people learn about this awesome piece of Tesla history.
But our take? It’s literally the last Roadster produced at the Menlo Park, California plant—and Tesla is poised to become the brand that singlehandedly spurred the shift from fossil fuel-powered vehicles to all out electrification—making this an incredibly important piece of automotive history.
Anyone who collects anything knows that typically the first and last items of any production run are the most valuable. So, in this case—what’s the last USA Roadster worth? Well, whatever someone’s willing to pay for it (thanks high school Introduction to Economics) —and it’s within reason that if Tesla continues to make history, that price could very well be in the millions!
Searching for a More, Ahem, Budget-Friendly Used Tesla?
At Find My Electric, our mission is to help connect buyers and sellers of used Tesla vehicles—but let’s be real—not everyone has a cool $1.5 million lying around, right? Right.
In that case—we definitely recommend taking a look at our used Tesla listings where you’ll find tons of used Teslas for sale at great prices.
We created the most technically advanced used Tesla marketplace from the ground up—from instant vehicle history data to advanced searching and sorting algorithms, we make it easier than ever before to find a used Tesla that’s awesome and affordable!
And of course, whether you’re looking for a vintage Tesla Roadster, a good price on a used Model 3, or even trying to sell a Tesla, we’re always here to help—so feel free to get in touch at any time, and happy Tesla hunting!