Tesla's history began with the Roadster, the electric sports car based on the Lotus Elise and sold between 2008 and 2012. Some 2,400 of them were built, but none like this example offered for sale in the USA and reported to our American colleagues at Electrek by none other than Jamison Cummings, a Tesla executive at the time.
It is the prototype with chassis #1124, equipped with a very special package.
The story
The car was originally purchased by Tesla in 2012 after an accident. Repaired and rebuilt under the supervision of Carl Medlock, who at the time was the manager of Tesla's Seattle service centre and now runs one of the only third-party Roadster repair shops in the US, the Tesla was equipped with a very special package.
The Tesla Roadster prototype for sale
The project was never presented to the public, but the Roadster in question, which was called the 'Roadster RR' or 'Roadster E-Sport', featured a number of important modifications.
These included Tarox Italian Performance brakes front and rear, a custom Hollinger limited slip differential, Bilstein Performance Sport suspension and the entire carbon-fibre bodywork covered in clear coat paint.
An 'official' package that never came to life
The package was supposed to cost around $30,000 (£24,000) and also include several performance upgrades. But the project was never completed due to some company vicissitudes, making this Tesla Roadster a truly unique specimen.
The Tesla Roadster prototype for sale
Although there are other customised Roadsters, the fact that this project was carried out under Tesla's supervision makes the package 'official'.
The car was purchased from the Cummings and Medlock workshop in 2022 and fitted with a new 80 kWh battery, which provides around 435 miles of range. In total, the car has covered about 29,000 miles, most of it before the customisation work.
The selling price is not specified, but more information is available on the car's official website.
The Tesla Roadster of the past and future:
Gallery: Unique Tesla Roadster prototype for sale
Source: Electrek