Where are they now? The first 100 Roadsters

[Tex EV]

I hope the dot (and its owner) near Houston is ok.

Not a Sig, but 113 is safe and dry on the 3rd floor of my office parking garage. Have also been extremely fortunate at home.

 

[TEG]

I hope the dot (and its owner) near Houston is ok.

Crossing my fingers that Signature 100 number 10 is OK...

 

[Tex EV]

Crossing my fingers that Signature 100 number 10 is OK...

Do you know what color it is? I've only seen three Roadsters in Houston. Very Orange, Racing Green, and Thunder Grey.

 

[TEG]

I had black in my records, but this looks sort of like Thunder Gray:

 

[EldestOyster]

Signature number 8 is alive and enjoying the fine weather in San Diego. Nothing like a club event to draw them out.

With my limited knowledge of Roadsters, I didn't know the computer screen was on the left in the early cars

I've spent the last few days reading some of the older Roadster threads.

 

[TEG]

Signature number 8 is alive and enjoying the fine weather in San Diego.

Originally owned by George Clooney...

 

[EldestOyster]

Originally owned by George Clooney..

And there's a plaque inside that says so. I thought I would give someone the pleasure of pointing out the history. I knew you'd know.

 

[TEG]

George Clooney auctions Tesla Roadster for charity

 

[Zak]

I had black in my records, but this looks sort of like Thunder Gray:
View attachment 244426

Your records are correct TEG. I made the original delivery myself. I think it was the metallic black, which would explain why it looks a bit like Thunder Gray in the picture in direct light. That was also the last car built with the 1.0+ powertrain (i.e. 1.0 powertrain with 2-speed gearbox with only 2nd gear installed) that needed to be brought back and upgraded when the 1.5 became available (more powerful with only one optimized gear ratio).

Yes I am replying two years after your post. Better late than never?

 

[DeedWest]

Signature 10 is Obsidian Black, with Premium Black & Beige Rally + Secondary Headrest, Silver Forged Wheels, & Body Color Hard Top.

 

[slcasner]

Your records are correct TEG. I made the original delivery myself. I think it was the metallic black, which would explain why it looks a bit like Thunder Gray in the picture in direct light. That was also the last car built with the 1.0+ powertrain (i.e. 1.0 powertrain with 2-speed gearbox with only 2nd gear installed) that needed to be brought back and upgraded when the 1.5 became available (more powerful with only one optimized gear ratio).

Hi, Zak! My recollection is that when our Sig 33 was delivered (on Halloween 2008) I was told that it was the first one with the 1.5 drive train already installed. I know the deliveries weren't strictly in sequence, but there is a big span between 10 and 33.

Steve Casner

 

[DrivingTheFuture]

I drive VP27 every day. Closing in on 40,000 miles on the odometer.

Still have VP 27?

 

[DrivingTheFuture]

Vp 0019 is great having moved from UK to USA...

Vp 0019 (validation prototype 19 is in great shape and is driving the roads of the Bay Area having temporarily relocated from London where it was born!

Still have it?

 

[DrivingTheFuture]

I was curious about this, so I looked back through my e-mail history to find the list of VP cars when they went up for sale. According to the e-mail, they were offering VP23 through 33 - and the list included cars that had already been sold, so I believe this represents all VP cars ever sold to the public. If correct, this means only 11 of these cars are in the hands of customers. I don't know what the collectors value may or may not be in the future, but these certainly are a very rare set of cars.

Does anyone know if VP22 or earlier were ever sold to customers?

EDIT: Found a follow-up e-mail offering VP21 for sale. So that would bring the possible number up to 12 or 13.

If you have this email, it'd be really cool to have a copy...

 

[Zak]

Hi, Zak! My recollection is that when our Sig 33 was delivered (on Halloween 2008) I was told that it was the first one with the 1.5 drive train already installed. I know the deliveries weren't strictly in sequence, but there is a big span between 10 and 33.

Steve Casner

I can't recall the exact delivery sequence but there were a lot of deliveries out of sequence at the time for various reasons. You were very close to the final assembly location, which makes a delivery much easier. Some cars had component failures or paint issues that needed resolution. Etc. You may have also been given incorrect information (Did I tell you that???) or interpreted a vague comment like, "One of the very first."

My recollection is the first 37 cars were built with the 1.0 powertrain. 27 Founders and 10 Signature.

 

[slcasner]

You may have also been given incorrect information (Did I tell you that???) or interpreted a vague comment like, "One of the very first."

It wasn't you. Karen says she recalls that it was one of the service staff who said that. And it's quite possible that there was some other qualifier applied that I am forgetting.

 

[Sig72]

Signature 72 is alive and well in the SF Bay Area. About 30,600 miles on the odometer. At the last local Roadster meetup, @slcasner and I had our Sigs there

 

[snowtire]

Well if you want to count EPs, VPs, Founders', and Sig 100s, then it is more like "first 168".
I think in 2006 they may have made 10 EPs.
I think in 2007 they may have made 14 VPs.
I think in 2008 they may have made 17 VPs, 27 Founders' and 100 signature models. (Plus around 400 more regular production models.)
Some of the EPs were likely crash tested.
I don't think any EPs were ever sold - some were probably decomissioned, used as museum pieces, and perhaps still a couple used for ongoing engineering experiments.
Many of the VPs bounced around the globe for shows, test rides, press events and such. A few ended up eventually being sold to private owners. I think most ended up in England or California.
I think all the Founders' cars are in the USA, nearly all still on the road. Once and a while you see a Founders' come up for sale.
Most of them are probably in California, with the occasional sighting in Illinois, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, ...
Most of this info I have collected from these sources:
#1: eBay and Craigslist auctions.
#2: Carfax used car listings.
#3: Flickr images that included a location.
#4: Comments posted on this forum.

By the way, for what it is worth, I have no intention of trying to keep track of Model S production.
I spent way too much time already, trying, out of curiousity, to see how much I could learn about Roadsters.

Hi TEG, I am new owner of a 2008 Roadster. I've started a google spreadsheet to keep track of all original roadsters I can find online as part of my search process. It looks like you have done something similar. Has someone created a central database of Roadsters with colors, mileage, vin, etc?

 

[Roadster]

Welcome to TMC @snowtire!

@TEG and @DeedWest are our resident VIN historians and have already done similar research over many years. They maintain their lists privately, sharing on an as-needed basis which is perfectly fine by the majority of us in the Roadster community.

 

[snowtire]

Welcome to TMC @snowtire!

@TEG and @DeedWest are our resident VIN historians and have already done similar research over many years. They maintain their lists privately, sharing on an as-needed basis which is perfectly fine by the majority of us in the Roadster community.

Thanks! I'll try to connect with them.