Founders Series?

Leaphart said:

Could someone explain what is a Founders Series Tesla?

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The first 10 or 20 (?) Roadsters produced, after the prototypes, were all sold to insiders, and were labelled "founder's series". The next 100 Roadsters were Signatures. They also do Signatures for the Model Ss and Model Xs in each new market. But as far as I know, only the Roadsters had a founder's series.

The Founders Model S cars were delivered in June 2012 to a small number of early Tesla investors/VIPs, a few months before the Signature series (first 1200 cars in US & Canada).

There were also Founder's Model S vehicles - VIN 0001 (how's that for a low VIN) is one. I saw it at last year's TMC Connect (one of the entrepreneurs who funded Tesla)

ggr said:

The first 10 or 20 (?) Roadsters produced, after the prototypes, were all sold to insiders, and were labelled "founder's series"...

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There were about 27 founders' series roadsters.




By the way, Founders' Roadster 8 is current for sale:
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/ctd/4940952711.html

dbullard said:

There were also Founder's Model S vehicles - VIN 0001 (how's that for a low VIN) is one. I saw it at last year's TMC Connect (one of the entrepreneurs who funded Tesla)
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I believe that particular car, VIN 001, went to Steve Jurvetson. A Rock Star VC investor who also invested early in Hotmail and of course Tesla, SpaceX and I think SolarCity. He may have also invested in X.com and something called PayPal. Anyone besides me seeing a pattern forming here? Someone could correct me.:smile:

I've ridden in Model S Founders #23, owned by the son of one of the early funders.

atang said:

I believe that particular car, VIN 001, went to Steve Jurvetson. A Rock Star VC investor who also invested early in Hotmail and of course Tesla, SpaceX and I think SolarCity. He may have also invested in X.com and something called PayPal. Anyone besides me seeing a pattern forming here? Someone could correct me.:smile:

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Yep, VIN 001 went to Steve Jurvetson. Many people here on the forum were lucky enough to meet Steve & hear him speak at TMC Connect 2014. Story behind why he got #1 and not Elon (http://www.cnet.com/news/riding-in-a-tesla-model-s-with-steve-jurvetson/ - watch the video to hear him tell it):

Musk had been dodging Jurvetson's numerous requests to put down a deposit on the car, saying that reservations for the vehicle couldn't be taken until the price was set.
But Jurvetson's luck changed as he prepared for a Tesla Motors board meeting.
"I noticed on page 65 that the prices are available," he said.
He asked whether the prices were being set that day. When he got a "yeah," there was no hesitation.
"I whip out my wallet as fast as I can. All of a sudden I have one check ready to go. I write it out to Tesla Motors for that amount and throw it across the table assuming for whatever reason I was in a race, but everyone else was just stunned," said Jurvetson.

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bonnie said:

Yep, VIN 001 went to Steve Jurvetson. Many people here on the forum were lucky enough to meet Steve & hear him speak at TMC Connect 2014. Story behind why he got #1 and not Elon (http://www.cnet.com/news/riding-in-a-tesla-model-s-with-steve-jurvetson/ - watch the video to hear him tell it):

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Thanks Ms. Bonnie! That's a story I had not heard before. Steve is such a brilliant guy, Glad you all got to meet him. Who knows, maybe I will have the same fortune! :smile:

I got to meet Steve, sort of randomly, a while back. I told him I liked his car, and he was happy to chat about it for a bit. Very nice guy.

Confirming 27 Founders' Series Roadsters, at least based on the plaque in mine (2nd owner of 3+ years:biggrin.

pharma5 said:

Confirming 27 Founders' Series Roadsters, at least based on the plaque in mine (2nd owner of 3+ years:biggrin.

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Sweet!!! Who are the signatures from? That's awesome.

We have an opportunity to obtain a Founders Series Tesla. What are the pros/cons of doing so?

Electricfan said:

Sweet!!! Who are the signatures from? That's awesome.

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Of all Tesla employees at that time.