Early Teslas are starting to cross the line from “used tech” into legitimate collector territory, and this 2008 Tesla Roadster listed on eBay sits right at the center of that shift. With just 600 original miles and one-owner history, this example is being described as the lowest-mile original Tesla Roadster in existence, making it about as close to a modern-day barn find as an electric car can get.
The first-generation Tesla Roadster is an important piece of automotive history. It wasn’t just Tesla’s first production car—it was the vehicle that proved an all-electric sports car could be fast, usable, and desirable. Built on a lightweight two-seat convertible platform and driving the rear wheels, the Roadster changed the conversation around EVs long before they became mainstream.
According to the seller, this Roadster spent many years in storage before being recommissioned in 2025 by Gruber Motors, a well-known specialist in early Tesla service. That work reportedly included new tires, a battery update, and additional service to return the car to proper running condition after long-term storage. The seller even refers to it as a “barn/warehouse find,” which is a fair description given how rarely these cars surface with mileage this low.
This example remains largely untouched, retaining its original configuration and showing just 600 miles since new. It’s a clean-title, left-hand-drive car with an automatic transmission, electric drivetrain, and rear-wheel drive. The interior is listed as gray, and features include air conditioning, leather sport seats, power windows, and electric mirrors—features that were considered high-tech at the time but now help highlight how far ahead Tesla was in 2008.
The Roadster was never produced in large numbers, and attrition has already thinned the herd. Most examples on the market today show significant mileage, battery upgrades, or modifications. Finding one with this level of originality and documented service history is becoming increasingly uncommon, especially as early Tesla interest grows and speculation continues around the release of a future-generation Roadster.
While the seller openly frames this as a collector car and investment-grade example, the significance goes beyond value trends. This is a snapshot of Tesla at the very beginning—a car that helped launch an entire company and reshape the auto industry.
As EVs continue to evolve at a rapid pace, untouched early examples like this one may end up being the most historically important of all. Would you preserve a 600-mile Tesla Roadster exactly as it sits, or is it meant to be driven—even if only sparingly—after all these years?
I have only seen one in the wild, probably 10+ years ago, on my commute down the 605 freeway in SoCal, I was passed two or three times on different days by one in BRG. They look a lot like a Lotus Elise.
Probably looks like a Lotus Elise because the 1st generation Tesla was built on the Lotus Elise platform. I think these moved into collector territory already. I started trying to find an affordable one about 5 years ago. They don’t come up very often, and when they do, I am apparently not the only one who wants it.
Hard to get enthusiastic about this brand, but I suppose someone will drop $200k to get the auction rolling…
This car’s fan speed knob is missing. Picky? For $200k and 600 miles my expectations can be rather high.
How did the company go from making this lovely thing to the Cyber Truck? Lord have mercy!
Elon lost his mind.
I never knew that Tesla made cars that looked like…cars! (Ok the Model S isn’t bad). Not only that but an exotic! And the interior..are those real gauges I see? Where are the iPad screens? For the longest time the only Teslas I’ve seen are either laptops on wheels, or garbage bins (Cyber Truck). Alas, I see the asking price is $200k which means some collector will snag it, and I’ll probably never see another one.
If you think this is pricey, the seller also has a baseball card for sale at $500k!! Maybe a package deal?
If only I had 200k and Elon Musk wasn’t such a tool. I’m not sure I’ve even seen pictures of this car until now. The one thing Musk had going for him was the sense to hire the best engineers and stylists to produce this car, and some of them left to make the Lucid Air, probably the best looking EV sedan today.
$200K! Har de har har. Is it April 1st?
When are numbers matching batteries going to become a thing?
About 12 years ago. One of these came into one of our Goodyear stores for tires. (I was lucky enough to he in that store
at the time ) I was able to talk my way into a test drive around the block. It was white like this one. And when I got out, I had to run to get some paper towels to wipe up all the drool that I left behind. It was a toataly cool car that I wanted badly. If I remember correctly, it only had a 200 mile range per charge. That would have been fine for me as the autocross location would have been well within the range from home!
Dumb question, but did you have a choice of transmissions on these? Thought all were auto’s.
These are gorgeous cars imo. I have a couple shots I took of one I saw sitting in a shopping center parking lot in Sedona AZ eight or nine years ago but it was sky blue. There’s also a silver one under this one on eBay on a classified ad for $79k.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/277631648294?
What exactly is a “battery update”?
Elon Musk’s own cherry red roadster has traveled 3.5 trillion miles (as of Feb 2025) and orbits the sun every 557 days. His isn’t described as “low mileage” for sure….
If you ever watched the show Shipping Wars one of the cast (Jarrett) transported one of these in a closed trailer cross country. I believe the episode was around 2014 or so. I remember the seller telling him that if the battery went completely dead during the trip it would be thousands to replace. Just saw it on reruns recently.
Just buy an Elise for a fraction of the price and be much happier.
“A fool and his money, are soon parted.” – Red E Kilowatt