These three Tesla sports cars, abandoned in China, still sold for $2 million after 10 years of inactivity
Three very mysterious 2010 Tesla Roadsters have attracted much attention and are now up for auction. Gruber Automobiles, a company that specializes in repairing Tesla sports cars, said on its website that the vehicles were found in Chinese containers and had been idle for more than a decade.
In 2010, a Chinese businessman bought them and shipped them to China. According to the website, they were abandoned on a pier, and the current owners of the cars — two red and one orange — eventually contacted the company to start the sale.
Peter Gruber, owner of Gruber Automobiles, said the original buyer was the research and development center of a Chinese auto company that later went bankrupt. It is believed that the vehicles were purchased for disassembly and reverse engineering.
Unfortunately, these vehicles have become unable to start. "Because the battery is dead or the service plug is broken, this will render the vehicle unusable," Gruber said. ”
Another mystery is where the keys to the vehicle went. Gruber said the keys should be in one of the offices in the port where they were seized. However, the keys were not found and the manager of the office had died. Gruber said his company has asked Tesla for a replacement key.
The Gruber team is placing the sports cars in new shipping containers, ready to ship them to the winning bidder. Gruber said on its website that if a deal is not finalized, the cars could be shipped to Dubai because Dubai is a "free zone" without any restrictions, such as potential buyers who wish to inspect the cars need to obtain permission to visit, location.
Back in 2008, Tesla released its first model, the Roadster. By 2012, the electric car company had sold about 2,500 of these cars for $100,000. Due to its rarity and historicism, convertibles are highly sought after. So far, one bidder has bid $2 million for the three vehicles. The auction has been extended and the new deadline is midnight on June 2.
Translated by ChatGPT
Reviewer: Lemon