Tesla is revamping its relationship with owners of the original Roadster. Here's a closer look at Tesla's first car. (TSLA)

Matthew DeBord

December 8, 2019 2:09 PM

Matthew DeBord/Business Insider

The original Roadster hit the street in 2008, after several years of development by an upstart Silicon Valley automaker called Tesla, after Nikola Tesla, the Serbian-American inventor.

Tesla recently announced that it would revise its service relationship with owners of its original Roadster, while simultaneously encouraging them to considering trading in Tesla's first car for a new model.
The original Roadster is perhaps the most important car in the history of electric vehicles.
Here's a look at what made it great and why it still is.
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Tesla's first vehicle was the original Roadster, and even CEO Elon Musk now admits it was an early draft of what Tesla could do. The design was borrowed from Lotus, and the UK automaker supplied Tesla with chassis through the Roadster's run, from 2008-2012.

The Roadster announced, dramatically, what Tesla was all about: fast, sexy, all-electric cars. No more glorified golf carts.

The Roadster hit the market priced at $80,000, but by the time the third upgrade was retired, the sticker had topped $150,000. Around 2,500 were sold.

Many are still on the road, and Tesla recently announced it would provide separate customer service and maintenance support to Roadster owners; these folks are a committed crew of early adopters and Tesla continues to care about them.

Here's a closer look at the Tesla that fathered all that followed, from the Model S to Model X, Model 3, Semi, Cybertruck, and forthcoming New Roadster.

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