Hi there,
I'm currently trying to assist the owner of SFZRE2B13A3000002 with the sale of their car, due to go through Coys auction at the Paris Motor Show next month.
There is quite a bit of speculation (and confusion) as to whether the car is the first officially imported European Tesla, and I'm hoping maybe someone here can offer some information?
Background - the owner ordered the car at a very early stage, securing a build slot with a €50,000 deposit. He was promised the first ever car, but when it came to delivery the car's Signature plaque was 02/250 and the chassis SFZRE2B13A3000002. When questioned, he was given a few different answers:
1) the first car was used as a prototype for testing and never released for sale
2) there has been an error but 01 doesn't actually exist
3) the first car needed to be crash tested
Since then, the following have also been suggested:
4) the first car was actually retained by EM for his private collection
5) it is a black car which resides in London under wraps and was sold to Rupert Murdoch
6) it was delivered to a buyer in Scandinavia due to an administration cock up in which 2 buyers were promised the first car.
Suggestion 5) has been pretty much dismissed as there are no records of SFZRE2B13A3000001 on the UK "HPI" record (like Carfax). Unless it was sold to him unregistered so doesn't show up on HPI, although this is very unlikely.
The suggestion which now seems most likely is 6), although I'm still not convinced that the answer is so simple.
I've found quite a bit of info regarding SFZRE2B3XA3000001, which is the red car in Scandinavia. I have traced a lot of photos of the car on the "Zero Rally" being driven by Eldar Vagan with the "Ferdinand" dealer signage on the side. Using regnr.info I have also found that this car recently underwent an annual government inspection, and so it definitely wasn't crash tested. It is currently on circa 55,000 km according to what I've found online.
HOWEVER... I'm not convinced this makes 02/250 the second car as the 'X' in the chassis of the red car doesn't seem to feature in any other Signature 250 chassis numbers. Furthermore, in all the photos of the car I have seen, it does not have the "Signature 250" square badges on the side panels and in one or two interior photos I'm fairly certain there is no circular "Signature 250" plaque between the seats. So, perhaps it was never sold as a Signature car, although technically carries a lower series number than 02/250, but isn't part of the names series!? Perhaps it was just a prototype / test car given to Ferdinand Motors for promotion + cold weather testing? In which case, does Signature 01/250 exist? Perhaps it has actually been held back for EM's private collection (in addition to his Founders cars)? Or perhaps it was sold to Rupert Murdoch but never registered? Or maybe the admin error was that 01/250 never actually made it to market so 02/250 the first?
The final piece to the puzzle is that 02/250 was registered on 06-Aug-2009 whereas the red Norwegian car wasn't registered until 08-Oct-2009, months after 02/250 and also months after other "official" Norwegian Signatures are showing as being registered.
I'm trying to remain as critical as possible and if there is any doubt that 02/250 is the first European customer delivery (or that there is a chance 01/250 exists) then the auction house need to be advised urgently as we don't want to mislead anyone. It's still a great collectors piece at just 1,700 miles and 1 owner from new, but clarification on whether it's the first official European car would be the icing on the cake for any collector, hence all this intrigue!
Any information welcomed, and thank you very much in advance to anyone who can share any info.
Many thanks
I'm currently trying to assist the owner of SFZRE2B13A3000002 with the sale of their car, due to go through Coys auction at the Paris Motor Show next month.
There is quite a bit of speculation (and confusion) as to whether the car is the first officially imported European Tesla, and I'm hoping maybe someone here can offer some information?
Background - the owner ordered the car at a very early stage, securing a build slot with a €50,000 deposit. He was promised the first ever car, but when it came to delivery the car's Signature plaque was 02/250 and the chassis SFZRE2B13A3000002. When questioned, he was given a few different answers:
1) the first car was used as a prototype for testing and never released for sale
2) there has been an error but 01 doesn't actually exist
3) the first car needed to be crash tested
Since then, the following have also been suggested:
4) the first car was actually retained by EM for his private collection
5) it is a black car which resides in London under wraps and was sold to Rupert Murdoch
6) it was delivered to a buyer in Scandinavia due to an administration cock up in which 2 buyers were promised the first car.
Suggestion 5) has been pretty much dismissed as there are no records of SFZRE2B13A3000001 on the UK "HPI" record (like Carfax). Unless it was sold to him unregistered so doesn't show up on HPI, although this is very unlikely.
The suggestion which now seems most likely is 6), although I'm still not convinced that the answer is so simple.
I've found quite a bit of info regarding SFZRE2B3XA3000001, which is the red car in Scandinavia. I have traced a lot of photos of the car on the "Zero Rally" being driven by Eldar Vagan with the "Ferdinand" dealer signage on the side. Using regnr.info I have also found that this car recently underwent an annual government inspection, and so it definitely wasn't crash tested. It is currently on circa 55,000 km according to what I've found online.
HOWEVER... I'm not convinced this makes 02/250 the second car as the 'X' in the chassis of the red car doesn't seem to feature in any other Signature 250 chassis numbers. Furthermore, in all the photos of the car I have seen, it does not have the "Signature 250" square badges on the side panels and in one or two interior photos I'm fairly certain there is no circular "Signature 250" plaque between the seats. So, perhaps it was never sold as a Signature car, although technically carries a lower series number than 02/250, but isn't part of the names series!? Perhaps it was just a prototype / test car given to Ferdinand Motors for promotion + cold weather testing? In which case, does Signature 01/250 exist? Perhaps it has actually been held back for EM's private collection (in addition to his Founders cars)? Or perhaps it was sold to Rupert Murdoch but never registered? Or maybe the admin error was that 01/250 never actually made it to market so 02/250 the first?
The final piece to the puzzle is that 02/250 was registered on 06-Aug-2009 whereas the red Norwegian car wasn't registered until 08-Oct-2009, months after 02/250 and also months after other "official" Norwegian Signatures are showing as being registered.
I'm trying to remain as critical as possible and if there is any doubt that 02/250 is the first European customer delivery (or that there is a chance 01/250 exists) then the auction house need to be advised urgently as we don't want to mislead anyone. It's still a great collectors piece at just 1,700 miles and 1 owner from new, but clarification on whether it's the first official European car would be the icing on the cake for any collector, hence all this intrigue!
Any information welcomed, and thank you very much in advance to anyone who can share any info.
Many thanks
