6-12-2023 4:05am

MOTOR TREND FINDS

A Secret Stash of Rare Tesla Roadsters Is Rotting Away in Maryland

Hidden boneyard for rare old Tesla Roadster EVs discovered during a Maryland road trip.

With only 2,450 first-gen Tesla Roadster EVs built during its 2008-2012 production life, calling them rare is an understatement. With perpetual delays leaving the next-gen Tesla Roadster somewhere in "the future," the originals have only become more coveted. So you can imagine the astonishment of finding no fewer than six of them unceremoniously crammed together behind a Tesla store in Owings Mills, Maryland.

The groundbreaking Roadster led the way for modern EVs as the first lithium-ion powered, 200-plus-mile range electric car. But aside from Tesla CEO Elon Musk launching one into space, Tesla has been remarkably silent about its first EV since production ended. The last major update came in 2014, when the company announced a $29,000 battery upgrade program for existing cars, creating what it called "Roadster 3.0" or the "R80" trim.

Roadside Mystery

Today, there's no mention of the Roadster inside Tesla stores, and it's not even listed as an option when searching used inventory online. A quick examination revealed these six weren't for sale, either. None had window stickers, some were damaged, and all of them were dirty. Registration stickers indicated many of them had been off the road for at least two or three years.

With an MSRP that started at $98,950 and steadily grew each year, Roadsters have never been cheap. When prices on the collector market began ticking up in 2021, Hagerty even included the car on its Bull Market List. Now the cars easily fetch more than $100,000 FINISH READING HERE